


To Trade in Alchemists

by phoenixreal



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Abandonment, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Bondage, Forced Orgasm, Kidnapping, M/M, Mind Control, Non-Consensual Drug Use, On Hiatus, Physical Abuse, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, RoyEd Week, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-01-04 15:54:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixreal/pseuds/phoenixreal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed finds himself in the middle of a plot by Greed and Envy, and is shattered beyond belief.  It's up to Roy to pick up the pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Threat Arises

**Author's Note:**

> Page Decorations used on cover: http://lyotta.deviantart.com/

* * *

 

Edward Elric felt the world tilt, and he groaned, feeling himself fall against another body. The other body also moved, but it was larger than his own. He ached in all the worst places, and his mouth hurt really badly. Why did his mouth hurt so much? He tried to open his eyes but found he was blindfolded securely, long blond eyelashes fluttering against a material. He tasted something bitter in his mouth and realized he was wearing a gag. A plain fabric gag was wedged into his mouth tightly, pressing his tongue down and pulling painfully at the corners of his mouth. What the hell happened?

It had been a simple thing, or it should have been. Why the stupid colonel had tailed him, he had no idea, muttering something about collateral damage control or something stupid like that. Or maybe because it was late at night when they left, and Al had already gone home. A part of him liked to think that Mustang had come because he didn't want Ed to be alone, but he knew better than that. Mustang and Ed knew he could handle himself, but the stupid bastard had to come with him. He remembered it was a possible chimera sighting, and so it was important to both of them to find out what was going on. He remembered they were about to enter the building when they must have tripped some sort of trap because they both dropped like rocks and the world went black.

He was dazed and heard voices, slowly coming into focus around him.

"Take his gloves off, that's the Flame Alchemist, that should take care of him, and tie his hands behind his back. The other one, that's the one that doesn't need a circle…also has automail…"

"So what do we do with him? Automail is pretty tough, he could break out."

"Rip the arm off. Make him easier to subdue. I hear he needs both hands to do his alchemy."

Ed heard a muffled cry beside him and footsteps coming toward him. Suddenly the world was awash in garish light and he looked up to see faces he didn't know. He looked beside him in time to see Roy being pulled to a sitting position, in a similarly bound position, his eyes taking in the room around him. Ed saw his mouth was bound with a tight gag like his own. His brow creased as he locked eyes with Ed. The man beside him folded the white gloves and put them in his pocket. He then turned to Ed with a grin. Ed could count three of them, the biggest one staring at him now, thickly muscled with a black crew cut and piercing green eyes.

"Fullmetal, huh? How tough are you without both arms?" he said with a menacing grin.

His hands were untied and one of them held his flesh arm painfully behind him as he forced him to his feet. He looked behind him to the guy hauling him up, a similarly large built man, but this one had a mess of brunette hair that flopped over his face, and dark brown eyes under a heavy brow. The larger man with the green eyes looked at him with a grin, holding tightly to his automail wrist. Ed shook his head with wide eyes as the other took hold of his automail elbow with the other hand. Winry was going to kill him for getting his automail messed up again. He tried to pull away as the huge man yanked hard and Ed screamed as the nerves disconnected and the ports ached from it. He was slightly dizzy from the pain of it when he fell back hard into the brunette that was holding his flesh arm in a bruising grip. Having automail detached and reattached properly hurt bad enough, but to have it ripped off like that… He vaguely heard Roy's muffled yelling as he fell to the floor, falling first to his hand and knees, then his flesh arm gave under the weight, sending him flat, his face turning to the side to face Roy who was staring wide eyed. Ed tried very hard to mask the pain shooting through him. He knew from the face Mustang had he was failing miserably.

"There, there, that should make you a little easier to handle, huh?" the third one said, this one a little shorter than the other two but with blond hair and shady grey eyes.

Ed was shaking from the effort to not cry out as the nerves randomly fired in his shoulder, and he didn't even want to look at the ragged mess the ports were in right now. He pressed his face against the cool concrete, smelling the scent of oil and soap used to get it out of the floor. Then, his flesh arm was grabbed and he was dragged back against the wall, his hand secured above him in a single shackle. His ankles were shackled and snapped into a ring at the base of the wall. Then Roy was given a similar treatment next to him, pulled back beside him, his ankles and wrist snapped into a ring behind him.

The man looked down on both of them. "We only really wanted blondie here, but two for one is a good deal too. At least until we turn you loose later today, Flame. See you're too much trouble, and well, far too _old_ if you get my meaning, Flame. The brat, well, he'll do fine without you. He fetches a nice price out west…"

Ed's head was spinning. Price? They were selling him to someone else? He looked at Roy, wide eyed. Roy was looking back at him just as surprised. The three shared a bout of raucous laughter at the two defanged alchemists and left them alone for a while. They sat there in silence for a long while until they heard boots coming in.

"I see," a strange accented man said. He was tall, thin, with long blond hair that fell below his chin. He walked over to Ed and kneeled before him, looking him over. He then reached up and tilted his chin up, only to be met with the fiery golden gaze and a guttural growl. "Feisty, that will be easy to beat out of him, I'm sure. You said he's a state alchemist, right? Smart?"

"Yeah, fuckin' prodigy or some shit. Doesn't even use a transmutation circle," the tall black haired one said with a grin.

"Hm, yes that's good, we like them smart and full of spirit…" He kneeled down again and ran a hand over the automail ports. "You have his arm? Or will it need replacing?"

"We have it, dunno if you'll be able to use it or not. Not like we know how to remove 'em proper. Just kinda figured to yank it ya know. He also has an automail leg, so watch it," he said nodding to Ed's bound legs.

The blond stood up and looked at him. "Yes, of course, brute strength as always. You know it isn't cheap to replace these things. But where he's going, he won't need it. Truthfully, they'll remove the leg as well."

He looked over at Mustang. "What about him?"

The burly blond snorted. "Ah, just was with the brat when he went through the doorway into the building. Grabbed both of them, so this one wouldn't raise a fuss about his little boyfriend being missing."

The brunette kneeled in front of Mustang and grinned at him. "Yeah, meant to asked you if the little major was yer fuck toy, colonel. I know for him to be a major he probably does quite a bit a'work on his back."

There was a snort of laughter at Ed's incredulous gaze and Mustang's narrowed eyes. "I don' think the colonel here likes us pickin' on 'is lil boytoy," the brunette continued with a grin, reaching out and patting Mustang on the face, getting a growl in return and a muffled curse behind the gag.

The thin blond shook his head and turned to the black haired man, obviously the little leader of the group. "Get him up, strip him, before we buy, I have to see the condition he's in," he said nonchalantly, causing Ed to flinch backward away from them into the wall, looking at Roy franticly with a pleading look in his eyes.

The large man un hooked the ankle shackle and then the one holding his arm, leaving his ankles bound together. He then yanked him to his feet unsteadily and took out a knife. "You want his clothes in one piece or not?"

The strange blond man shook his head. "They are of no importance; he'll be transported nude anyway. Quicker the better, I must make my choice for my master within the hour, and if not this boy, then the girl waiting at the next warehouse, though he prefers boys."

The guy grunted and Ed felt the knife under each shoulder of his jacket and shirt as it sliced through the fabric, falling at his feet in a puddle. Ed gasped at the sudden exposure, flinching as he felt eyes on him. A deep blush was staining his face already. He did not like being exposed like this. He'd sit having his automail worked on all day shirtless, but this was different. The blond man stepped forward and ran a hand over his chest, then down his belly, pressing against his abs, fingers tracing the soft trail of blond fuzz that traveled down his belly into the top of his leather pants.

Then, without warning, he felt the cold metal of the knife against his back and it sliced easily through the back of each leg of his pants and boxers and both fell forward in a heap. Ed blushed immediately again and tried his best to move his legs to cover himself, which with ankles together wasn't much. The blond smiled at him and forced his legs down out of the way, running hands over his hips and back down his ass slowly, far too slowly for his liking. Then he yelped in surprise when he felt him drive a finger into him.

"Yes, very nice, but he's still a virgin. I guess the colonel doesn't use him as a fuck toy after all. Of course, that isn't to say the boy's mouth isn't used. My master doesn't like to do the hard work of breaking in the new ones, too much screaming and crying for his sensitive ears. Fix it, break him in for us, and I'll be by to pick him up in the afternoon," he said with a serene smile and turned and left.

The large man behind him snorted. "Fix it, he says. Well, blondie, looks like you and I are going to get to know each other really well…as well as the other boys since we have to break you in nicely for him."

Ed was nearly hyperventilating as he struggled against him as he was shoved down onto the floor roughly, his flesh arm still pinned at the small of his back by the brunette man. Before he knew it, a rope had been wrapped around his waist and secured his arm to his back so it no longer had to be held in place. He turned his head to see Mustang thrashing against his bonds trying to get free. He already felt blood dripping from his wrists and ankles as he tugged violently against the ropes. Mustang was more than disturbed. For one thing, his subordinate was being sold off somewhere, but then, upon finding his inexperience in sex, they were going to rape him right in front of him. And of course, if they were going this far, Mustang seriously doubted that this guy wanted him for his glowing personality, especially since it appeared he favored boys.

He barely had time to take a breath as he felt the larger man over the top of him, breathing roughly in his ear, "This might hurt some, sweetheart," he said, and yanked Ed's hips upward toward him. There was a second that nothing happened, then he felt something hard and wet against him and he started to struggle away as his hips were snapped backward with such force that he arched off the floor, falling back and busting his nose against it, yelling into the cloth in his mouth. He had never felt something like that, intense burning and shooting pain through every part of his body. He turned his head and saw Roy watching horrified and all he could do was sob against the gag in his mouth, now soaked with blood as well as tears. Choked screams escaped when he had the breath for them. He screamed for them to stop, to quit, he'd do anything if they'd just stop. Of course it was an incoherent muffled jumble of words against the gag. He swore time had frozen, until he felt something warm and thick flood inside him and his stomach retched against the feeling, but it didn't last long as he was flipped to his back harshly and he was staring up into the face of the second man. His head had bounced off the floor, and he immediately felt blood pooling into his blond hair which had come loose and was sprawled around him in a vivid corona.

This one, the blond one now, growled, and yanked him toward him, pulling his legs around his waist and forcing himself into the tight space. This time, though, it didn't hurt as much, for which Ed was thankful. Not to say it didn't hurt, but it wasn't as intense. He imagined that was due to the fact he had the other guy's stuff there… He couldn't even think it, squeezing his eyes shut at the shame and pain coursing through him. He was now laying painfully on the arm secured to his back and his head was throbbing so that his vision was faltering. He turned his head away, his body being used like this and stared at Roy, who sat frozen at what was happening less than three feet from him, and he had no way to stop it.

They'd tied Roy's hands behind him, and then tied both feet behind him, making him sit at an awkward angle. But in essence, he could get no leverage to get free of his bonds. But then he saw something that made his heart leap. His gloves. The idiot had put them in his pcket, which he had forgotten in his urgency to violate Ed. He had no idea how he was going to pull it off, but if he could just get his gloves…

Another muffled scream from his subordinate, signaled a new change in their treatment. This time, they'd turned him again to his stomach and the one with the messy brunette hair was taunting him verbally. But in doing so, they had shifted the pile of clothes closer to Roy, and he could just wriggle his fingers enough to snatch those white gloves out of the pile…

Then he heard a noise that was more welcome than any, a distant siren. Did his team figure out something had gone wrong when he hadn't reported? He hoped. Jean and Riza were sure to be expecting him to check in. At the late hour, he always managed a relay with the office to report in first thing in the morning if nothing else. He didn't know how long he'd been out, but if they were searching, it had been quite a while, perhaps most of the night. What time had he told Riza he'd report in? Five am, he thought he'd told her. And if he knew her, that one missing report would have taken her less than half an hour to have his team ready and out the door. He continued his efforts, though, because he didn't know how long it would be before they made it into this warehouse, and he really needed to get Ed away from them, because he'd stopped screaming at all, and all he could hear was the occasional muffled sound from him.

The three men were engrossed in their current act, either watching or using the blond mercilessly, and Roy tried to ignore it as he managed to slip his glove into his hand. He heard a noise and looked up to a catwalk at the top of the building to see the form of Jean Havoc frozen in place for a moment before dashing back the way he'd come. No doubt he was recon. He knew them, they'd have decided to run checks on each warehouse in the area when they got to the location. He did blessed these idiots for choosing to stay in the general vicinity of the place they'd come to initially. He sighed, leaning back, trying desperately to get the gloves to work with his numb fingers.

"We gotta work for this bastard again if he is gonna let us fuck his merchandise every time," the black haired one chuckled. "Move over, gimme a second round, I want to watch him cry this time…"

Then, there was an explosion of light from the front of the building and Roy realized that there was no way he was getting the gloves on at that point, his hands were just too damn numb. All three men looked up, the black haired one dropping Ed and pulling his pants to stand, gripping them at the waist. He heard Ed sobbing beside him and wanted to reach out and grab the boy but he was still held tight by the bonds.

The brunette man got smart though and yanked Ed up by the hair, causing a weak squeak to come from his mouth as he was held partially up, sitting on his knees, sideways, his head streached up and open as he held a knife at his throat. "Hey, you want these two dead, keep coming," he said. Roy saw Havoc but not Breda or Fuery.

The other two, moved behind them both, reaching behind Mustang to unhook the chain that held Roy's hands in position behind his back. The release caused a flood of feeling to return to his hands and after a few tense moments, he managed to work his gloves onto his hands. The black haired one put another knife to Roy's throat and grinned, thinking he had the advantage over the Flame Alchemist. This was testy, definitely unorthodox, but he was going to try. He snapped, and when he did, flames shot up from his ropes, burning them away and leaping into the face of the man behind him. Hands now free he snapped again, flames bursting over the one holding a knife to Edward and lurching into the third. There was a shocked silence followed by a burst of moment as his team moved in, easily taking down the three scorched thugs. Roy scrambled over to where Ed was and pulled him into his lap, untying the binding that held his one arm behind him. He grabbed his red coat and wrapped it around him quickly as he sobbed into Roy's shoulder, gripping him tightly with the flesh arm.

"Colonel!" he heard, and voices trying to ask him if he was hurt. Then someone was trying to take Ed out of his arms and he shook them off, standing up. He secured the boy tighter in his arms and stormed out of the place before he seriously set the entire place alight. He would have if it hadn't been for his people around.

There was an ambulance waiting already, in anticipation of injuries, and he didn't give them a chance to even ask what the problems were or who was injured, he was up and into the back with the boy, laying him on the stretcher and telling them to get going now. They dared not argue with the dark haired colonel, because between the bloody alchemist and the flames barely contained in the colonel's eyes, they were definitely in a hurry to divest their ambulance of these two.

After they had gone, Havoc stood with the others. Breda put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure about what you saw?"

Havoc nodded. "I know what I saw. And this…pretty much confirms it," he said, gazing at the floor, the remains of Ed's clothes except the coat laying puddled, and various patches of dampness. He picked up Ed's discarded automail arm and stalked out of the place.

"I'll head to the hospital," Riza said and turned on her heels, Maes following in short order.

They arrived to find Roy sitting impatiently in the waiting room.

"Sir, any word?" Riza said softly, much softer than she normally ever spoke.

Roy shook his head, then stood and planted a fist into the wall beside him. "I was useless. Sitting there right beside them and I couldn't do a damned thing to stop them!"

After a moment, Havoc came in, handing off the automail to a nurse and coming back to where the colonel was waiting. "Sir, I just got back word, what you two triggered, there was no way to avoid or detect it. It was alchemical, and it was made to knock out anyone with alchemical talents the moment they stepped into the place. They were trying to catch alchemists. Got any idea why they would be doing that?"

Roy nodded. "They were selling him. _Selling_ him to some blond asshole. Said that I was too old for them to use. Talking about how their master preferred boys, and didn't like them…" Roy gritted his teeth. "He told them to do that. Told them to get him ready to be sold this afternoon, to break him in because his master didn't like the screaming and crying. I want the son of a bitch who did this. That blond bastard and his master, whoever the fuck he is. And I want to watch him burn slowly."

There was a silent ascent among the group. As annoying and loud as Ed could be, they all cared deeply for him. Maes put a hand on Roy's shoulder, knowing it would do little to comfort the irate Flame Alchemist.


	2. Disappearance

"You know what you want, and they took it from you," the dark haired man with the hood whispered to the man who considered himself king of this particular zone in the west. "The boy was perfect, exactly what you need, and you need him badly, don't you, my lord? Everything you ever wanted, in one…nice…neat…package."

He nodded his head of black hair and grinned broadly. "I've been looking for some way to satisfy this…need…and I think he is the one. So many I've had to go through to find him…perfect. I'll send out Bendal and Seraf this time. They'll bring him to me."

"Yes, Lord Dreasel. You shall have only the best for you. One of the finest minds to bend to your will, and a fine specimen for your pleasure as well. He will serve you well, my lord," the dark man said fondly behind him, placing a hand on the white clad shoulder. The lord barely noticed the shade of blue anymore that tinted his arm.

His head only filled with images of the beautiful blond inside his mind. He didn't know where the image had come from. Long blond hair, a pale face, lovely lips, and a so damaged it was painfully beautiful. It wasn't a person he'd ever seen, but the image had appeared nonetheless. The imperfections making his radiance even brighter until he shined like the very sun. So far, though, his men had been able to turn up pale copies. This one was too stupid. This one was too perfect. This one just wasn't right. And it had been frustrating until the call he'd gotten early this morning.

"Long blond hair, small, almost feminine in features, with an automail leg and arm. Fiery temper and an alchemical prodigy, and a state alchemist already at the age of sixteen."

Perfection! Then, the second call to say that the military had interfered and stolen his prize from him… Three servants died due to his rage until his advisor had come to him and soothed him. He was so grateful to his advisor, able to soothe the stinging need for more of what he desired…

-Central-

"What do you mean I can't see brother?" the walking suit of armor said to the nurse.

"He's not to receive any…oh, Colonel Mustang!" the nurse said, smiling at the dark haired alchemist. "This, ah, gentleman wanted to see Major Elric, but I told him…"

Roy waved at her, giving her his best sultry smile. It was hard to miss the fluttering eyelashes and the slight blush that graced the brunette every time she saw him. "I'll handle this, come on, Al. Before you go see Fullmetal, I'll fill you in on what happened, okay?"

Roy led him into a private room and sat down with a sigh, previous façade of gentleness slipping, but only in front of Al, who he knew he could trust with this slight slip of his mask.

"Al, I can't say how sorry I am for what happened to Fullmetal. Really, I was fuckin' useless when it came down to it," he said, staring intently at the white gloves. A lot of good his ignition gloves had done. He failed to address the fact if he hadn't managed what he did, his subordinante, and himself, could have ended up with slit throats before his team had gotten to them.

Al fidgeted nervously. "Colonel what happened?"

"It was stupid, a trap, and we fell for it. And we woke up and these three bastards had us tied up. They were talking about selling Fullmetal to someone out west…"

"Selling him?" Al would have gaped open mouthed at a statement had he a face to have expression upon. "What, like a slave?"

Roy shook his head. "They took his arm off, and you know, I knew it was painful, but I didn't really expect it to be so…hard…to watch him suffer it. And damn…I saw how hard he was trying not to show it. Your brother is tough, Al. More than I give him credit for sometimes."

Al nodded. "It hurts every time, but brother always bears the pain well. But if they just pulled it off…that would hurt a lot more. He wouldn't be able to prepare for it, and the nerves would be left afterward…"

"They kept us for a while, then this blond bastard came back to look him over, and…" Roy really didn't know how to tell Al the whole story. But he knew that Ed would never give him a true story of what had happened, and since Roy was technically his guardian, he thought Al needed to know. "He stripped him and decided he was good enough."

Al looked at him quietly. "Why…why would they do that?"

"Al, I know you're young but you aren't naïve. The buyer preferred boys, he said. And I'm sure you can understand what that meant," Roy said with a sigh, stomach roiling at the sheer thought there were people that still traded in humans today.

Al was very quiet, his mind clicking facts into place. "But…but why would they want a state alchemist for that kind of thing? There are plenty normal people…people that couldn't fight back like brother…people less dangerous than brother…and he's a state alchemist, isn't that risky just for a…a slave like that?"

"He was looking for alchemists, specifically. Young, smart, and spirited. However, that isn't the worst part of the situation, I'm afraid Al," Roy said, his throat constricting. He really wished the embarrassment of being stripped naked in front of Roy and, in the end, the entire team, had been all.

Al nodded for him to continue. "The guy told our captors that the buyer wanted him…broken in before he took possession."

At first, he was afraid that he didn't catch his drift and he was going to have to spell it out in the words he really, really did not want to say. Saying it was admitting it happened to Al, admitting that he, the great Flame Alchemist, had _let_ it happen sitting beside him through the entire event unable to move a muscle to help him as he screamed in pain.

"No, colonel…you don't mean…" Al said softly. "Not to brother, he…he's too…"

Roy nodded. "I do. And I was sitting less than five feet away from him and couldn't do a damn thing but watch and try to get my hands on these goddamned gloves. I did eventually, when they unhooked my hands and I could use my fingers again, and when Havoc and the others came busting in, I scorched all three of them nicely, but the damage was done. I was too late.

"But they're all down in lock up now, and since they're all three charged with kidnapping of two state alchemists, assault on an adult and a minor, as well as counts of sexual assault on a minor…and anything else I can damn well throw at them."

Al was again quiet for a moment and Roy cursed the suit of armor. Unless Al spoke, there was no real way to read his emotions or thoughts. "Did you get the guy that was trying to buy him?"

Roy sighed. "No, but I have a pair of gloves that are itching to burn off body parts of those three bastards and I'm going to get answers. After the report I've already given, I doubt anyone would stop me. As much of a pain in the ass your brother is, he's still one of us. And we take something like…this…seriously when it comes to our own. I can't kill them, but I will get information. And then they're going away for a very long time. And hopefully, my testimony will mean that Fullmetal doesn't have to say anything about the incident. I'd prefer to use his status as a minor to keep him out of the case as much as possible. Havoc and I both can testify on his behalf, as well as the physical evidence. Is there any way you can get that girl that fixes his automail to come help put him right? I'm sure he would feel better with both his arms working."

Al nodded. "Yeah, I can call Winry tonight, can I see him?"

Roy nodded and stood up to take Al to the room, with Breda sitting outside the door reading a magazine. He nodded and led Al into the room. Ed was laid out on his back, his hair wild behind him, a bandage across his broken nose and a white patch on the back of his head where his split head had received six stitches. His automail ports had been covered with a white bandage, the raw spots around the edges treated. He had a lot of bruises and his flesh arm was wrapped tightly. Between the strain and having it bound, his wrist and elbow both had been sprained. He now held it over his head as he stared out the window.

"Brother!" Al exclaimed as Ed looked up and smiled.

"Al, what are you doing here?" he said softly. Too softly.

"Where else would I be, brother, after the colonel called to say you were here!" he exclaimed, and if he'd had a face it would have been scowling.

Ed snorted, turning back to the window. "Well, just because colonel bastard calls you shouldn't always come running. Just a little banged up, is all. I'm fine. I get to go home soon anyway, you shoulda just waited there."

Al looked at Roy and back at Ed. It was obvious that Ed was going to play strong. Roy nodded and left. His heart was in his throat and he couldn't talk anyway. Ed was trying to be strong for his brother, like always, putting on the brave face. Roy reached up and felt his chest as he walked away, though, where tears had soaked all the way down to his undershirt. The boy had been broken in the worst way, and he was trying to convince his brother it was just some bumps and bruises. He would not soon forget that bruising grip that despite the pain his arm had to be in had held him in, leaving bluish fingerprints on his shoulder. The complete desperation in that grip had been enough to scare even the great Flame Alchemist.

He growled at the thoughts and stormed off, heading from the hospital to the interrogation chamber that held the three men he really wanted to just incinerate. It was honestly unusual for him to get this angry. But something about the look in his gold eyes had left him feeling like he was burning up inside. They were all three at a table in a large room, Havoc and Rita already there, papers ready and looked up as the door banged open when Roy entered. Roy took a clipboard from the desk in front of Havoc and looked at the three men. His eyes contained barely restrained rage.

"Roger Velesta," he said, snapping his fingers in front of the black haired man's face, getting a flinch. "Quintes Ramon," he said, similarly snapping his fingers in front of the brunette. "And Charles Simmons," he snapped before the blond.

"As a special consideration, even though I am technically a victim in this case, I'm being allowed to conduct the questioning since the boy you raped was my subordinate and under my guardianship," he said, not bothering to let an ounce of emotion into his voice. Somehow, it made him an even more frightening figure.

"Now, you are each charged with two counts of kidnapping of a state alchemist, one count of physical assault of an adult, one count of physical assault of a minor, and one count of sexual assault of a minor. Now, as I see it, you'll never see the light of day. And if I can wiggle any more charges in, I will. I'm thinking resisting arrest will be in there as well, and threatening the rest of the team. And when you get into prison, I'll make sure to spread the word that you're each a pedo rapist. We'll see how long it takes before you to acquire attention of some of the more, ah, colorful residents in general population," he said smoothly, enjoying the stiffening and glances between them. "Now, you can help yourselves."

The black haired one, Velesta snorted. "Why the fuck ya care? Oh is it because we got to fuck your little boy toy before you got a chance to do it? I bet he's been suckin' yer dick since the day he started here. Otherwise, the fuckin' brat wouldn't be a Major. Oh, wait; maybe he wasn't suckin' yer dick, but someone higher up the food chain? Surprised he wasn't spreading his legs for them too…talk about surprised when I rode into his sweet ass, nice surprise, too bad you didn't take tha chance when you had it, _colonel_. Probably the best fuck I've had in my life."

Havoc felt his fists tighten and saw the barely restrained anger in the colonel. Before anyone could react, Roy turned and snapped, sending flames up the man's leg, just enough for him to scream in pain before he squelched them out. No one moved to stop him. No one wanted to. He looked to the two impassive guards at the door, neither of which even flinched.

"He burned himself, how clumsy. Take him to the infirmary."

The remaining two, still nursing some first degree burns on their hands and faces from when Roy had blasted them in the warehouse watched as their boss was half carried, half led from the room, grimacing in obvious pain from the blackened leg. The smell of burnt flesh hung heavy in the air.

"Now, as I was saying, you can help yourself here," he continued, fixing a dangerous glare on two remaining. "Who was the buyer? And how do you contact the bastard that was there today? And if you think what I did to your boss was bad, try lying to me, or even begin to say something that upsets me. I haven't had the chance to reduce someone to ashes in a few years."

"Look, we don't know the buyer, that fuckin' blond bastard was the only contact we had, his name is Wiesterson, that's all we know, I fuckin' promise, we don't know anything else, please, don't turn me to ashes, I swear I only was doin' what the boss said, and I'm sorry, the money was good, really good, and I didn't wanna disappoint the buyer cuz I wanted more work from him, we only got three other alchemists for him…" the brunette with the messy hair stammered.

"Shut the fuck up!" the blond shouted.

"Three other alchemists?" Roy asked. "Tell me more," he said, holding one gloved hand up in the air, fingers together.

"Th-there's a girl, young alchemist, she's not even started, she's at a warehouse down from where we had the boy and you, okay? She's tied up, but she's fine, she was gonna be the next one Wiesterson visited if the blond wasn't what his boss was lookin' for. We couldn't get another boy in the right age so we had to pick her up," he rushed on, despite the glare from the blond beside him.

"Age? What were you supposed to find?" Roy asked, leaning back, and biting his cheek.

"Boys, alchemists, between 14 and 16, preferably without parents, but that wasn't a huge deal. Blonds were preferred, but redheads were okay. No dark hair. Long hair, if we could manage it, but that one is harder to find on a boy. And if two boys couldn't be found, a girl could be substituted. But if the boy was good enough, he wouldn't take the girl. The first pair we had, he took both with him and we got paid a ton…so we decided to do it again when he called saying he needed a couple more," the brunette rushed on.

Roy leaned forward. "You're telling me you kidnapped two other boys and sold them to this Wiesterson?"

Ramon nodded. "Yeah, I dunno what their names were, one was blond, the other had red hair, the blond was 15, the redhead was 17, but he looked young so they didn't say anything. They were both new to alchemy, just starting, and we posted this flyer looking for young people wanting lessons… When they came into the building, it triggered the seal, and if they had ability they passed out, like you did. The others just walked through and we told them because the two kids passed out that the meeting was canceled. It worked, and we called in the guy and he ended up taking both of them with him. I…I think he got mad though because the younger one was…well, inexperienced, and he said he was too noisy. So, I think that's why Wisterson checked this time…"

Roy mused for a second. "What happened to the other two boys?"

"No idea. He just contacted us and said he needed a replacement for the first two we sent, so they could be…well dead for all I know," he said, hoping beyond anything he wasn't going to be fried where he sat. "He-He said that the blond was too noisy and cried all the time and the red head was stupid and wouldn't do, so he said to find someone smart enough this time…"

"What put you on Fullmetal?" Roy asked tightly.

Ramon looked at his companion who shook his head. Simmons ground his teeth. "Opportunist that I am, I heard about him. I mean, fuck, what more could this fucker want? Right age, right hair color, and long even, fuckin' alchemical prodigy, and as pretty as little girl to boot. Figured that he'd be harder to lure, but asked around and found out he was interested in life alchemy, so I spread the rumor of a lab with a possible chimera. Not hard to nose up that kinda information about someone as loud as yer blondie. So he took the bait, and well, ya stumbled right into the arms that caught ya."

Roy stood up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So that's all you can offer me? That's helpful, but doesn't do much but give me two more missing kids to find."

"Gives you the girl back," Simmons said evenly, glaring at him.

Roy nodded. "I give you that. Anything else that I should know?"

Ramon looked at him. "This fucker gets what he wants…and I'm afraid if he got his sights set on yer lil boyfriend, he's gonna get hold of him. From what his man said, he doesn't take well to failure, and he doesn't take no for an answer. Wiesterson would have contacted him with the details before long, and by this afternoon would have made the pickup. He's gonna be pissed when he ain't there. He's one greedy bastard, from what I hear, hoarding alchemy and hoarding things he fancies. And I hate ta say it, Colonel, he fancies yer little alchemist."

"Fine, I'll see what I can do." He looked at Riza. "Did you get everything on record?"

"Aye, sir," she answered.

"Get these two out of here, I'm going to see how Fullmetal is doing," Roy said, turning to leave.

He got to the car outside the building and heard a loud boom. He looked up and frowned, realizing that the sound came from the direction of the hospital. His mind spun back to what the man had said. _He fancies yer little alchemist._

Roy was in the car and speeding off before a minute had passed. He got closer and realized that the explosion had indeed come from the hospital. Shit, he thought. He was hoping that this had nothing to do with Ed. There was that familiar feeling curling in his gut though, that nagging sensation that something was wrong, horribly wrong.

He was out the door and running, never having bothered to take his gloves off after the interrogation as he was blasted backward by the doorway blowing outward. He landed on his ass and skidded before coming to a stop and seeing a sight that nearly froze him. Two men were running, and he couldn't see much through the haze of debris, but he was sure he saw a trail of bright blond hair as they escaped.

Roy was on his feet as fast as possible, ready to snap fire to consume them, but realized he didn't know which one was holding Ed, if it was Ed, and he had no idea for sure what was happening. He came to the edge of the building to find nothing. He looked around, rubbing his eyes. He knew they'd come this way. There was no doubt he had been on their heels. And now they were gone. From behind him, feet were coming and he turned to see his team, just as confused as he was.

"They got Ed," Breda said, and Roy had to admit, he looked like hell, lip bloody, black eye, and wheezing from something in his ribcage.

"What happened?" Roy asked, looking between those that were there. Riza and Havoc were still dealing with the three prisoners, but they would be here soon he imagined.

"Al was talking to me in the hallway, and there was an explosion in the room, and we heard Ed call out for Al. Al tore the door open to find this…I'm not sure, sir, he looked like a man but some sort of alchemy had augmented him, and he had iron or something laced across his body and arms, and he had Ed in a choke hold until he passed out, then he just…took off with him through the hole in the wall. I went after the other guy, and well, you see how that ended. Then he was gone, and I never saw him leave," Breda said, panting, wiping blood from his mouth.

"Fuck!" Roy cursed, looking around, and sensing the distinct tang of alchemy. "They used some kind of alchemy to get away. How's Al?"

"He's fine, he is up in the room trying to figure out how they got there, since it's like five floors up…" Breda answered, looking up to see Riza and Havoc running toward them with Maes.

"They got Ed," Roy said to them. "After all this and they fuckin' got to him anyway."

"Who was it?" Breda asked.

Roy shook his head. "The fuckin' thugs who did that to Fullmetal, they said they'd kidnapped two other boys, and a girl, I'm sure Riza already sent someone to rescue the girl, but the boys we don't know. They weren't 'good enough' for the guy who bought them. They said he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted, and apparently, he wanted Fullmetal. We've got to find him, because whatever this guy has planned, it isn't good for him. We've got a guy to find, and I want everyone on it."

He proceeded to give out the instructions on locating the blond haired Wiesterson. He sent someone from another division back to figure out whom the missing boys were and if there was any information on them. He then went back to trying to figure out what the hell kind of alchemy had been used for them to just disappear like they had. After a long moment, he located the remains of a transmutation circle and cursed loudly, snapping his fingers to burn it from the ground.

"Earth alchemy. They went through the goddamned ground," he said as he came up to Riza and Maes. "No trace left. Is someone with Al?"

"Yeah, Breda's up there, getting patched up and Al is staying with him. At least that's what Al thinks. You don't think they'd come for Al?" Fuery asked, frowning.

Roy shook his head. "He'd have to have a body to be of interest."

Furey flinched, knowing exactly what he meant. "Why is he so interested in Fullmetal?"

Roy sighed. "Said he wanted someone smart and young, between 14 and 16, and preferably long haired and blond, and male."

Maes turned and stared at him. "Isn't it awfully strange the guy happens to want someone exactly matching Ed's description? Right down to the long blond hair? I mean, obviously it doesn't seem he was looking specifically for Ed from the start, but still…"

Roy looked at him. "You think there is more to it than just some perverted man wanting a kid his age as a plaything?"

Maes nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe. I find the description awfully specific. What are the chances of finding a boy exactly like that other than Ed? Long hair on boys isn't exactly in style right now, especially among the younger ones."

"The guy said they took him a blond but he cried too much and the redhead wasn't smart enough. So what exactly is this guy doing?" Roy asked, looking up.

Maes sighed, shaking his head. "Well, considering the…requirements of experience…it seems that the obvious answer is true, as hard as it is to accept that this guy wants him for some perverse pleasure, but for some reason he wants alchemists. And he's looking for the perfect one. Who happens to be Ed."


	3. The Whispering Shadows

Ed groaned as he rolled over to his side, trying to remember exactly what was happening. The hospital...then the… His eyes snapped open and he felt pressure on his wrist as he realized he was limited in his range of movement. He blinked bleary eyes and realized he was in a bed, a very comfortable one, but his flesh arm was chained above his head to a metal frame, and his automail leg was secured to the frame at the foot of the bed. His flesh leg was similarly attached to the foot, though he had some freedom of moment with it, where the automail was held fast. He yanked on it hard, expecting it to give, but found it didn't.

"Please, my lord, don't do that!" came a hushed voice from beside him.

He looked up to see a young man with light red hair arranging a table beside his bed. "Who are you?" he gasped, looking around.

The room was lavishly decorated in hues of blue and grey, but there were no windows. Bright artificial lights illuminated the large room. There was a large lounge chair and sofa with a coffee table, and a door leading to what appeared to be a huge bathroom. He was covered in a thick comforter but he could tell without looking he was naked underneath. A blush crept onto his face, wondering who had undressed him.

"Shh, my lord, my name is Raderean, and you must not be loud or our master will punish me," he said.

"P-punish you?" Ed said, frowning.

The redhead nodded. "I am your whipping boy, my lord. Your precious flesh cannot be risked, so it is I who take any punishment for your infractions."

Ed looked around franticly, his breath coming in pants. "But…but why? Where am I?"

Raderean looked up. "The master comes with his advisors to help you understand, my lord."

The large door opened to reveal three men. One was tall and cloaked, only a shock of black hair to be seen over his pale face. One was shorter with thick black hair and chocolate eyes and wearing a gray cloak. The one in the middle, though, demanded attention. He was tall with black hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore ornate white robes decorated with gold adornments. Around his head sat a golden circlet set with a large blue stone. His hands were folded neatly in front of him as he looked on with a smile.

"Let me see him," he breathed, and the one with the cloaked face moved forward and yanked away the cover.

"No, please," he said before he could stop himself and saw the man's eyes flash. The cloaked figure beside him lashed out with a whip at the redheaded boy who screamed as the whip crackled with energy of some sort.

"Do not speak unless you are instructed," the white robed man said softly.

Ed stared at the boy writhing on the floor still in obvious agony, his eyes wide at the sight. "I will not whip you like that, my love. I promise that is reserved for your proxy. I do not like noises, you see. So anytime you make noises that are too loud, your proxy will suffer for you. Do we understand each other?"

Ed looked up at him, his eyes still wide in shock and nodded, unsure if he was permitted to speak. "Good," he purred with a smile. "Good, you learn quickly. You don't like to see others in pain. Good."

The man moved over and ran a hand over the automail. He sighed. "I'm sorry, love, but I'm afraid I cannot permit you to keep such a piece of machinery. It assaults my senses, and you are perfection without such…artificiality. Remove it, Andka."

Ed shook his head as the man in the grey cloak moved forward. He smiled wickedly at him, and with strength that he never imagined the man to have, yanked the automail from him, breaking the shackle that had held it in place with the force. Ed gritted his teeth hard, and choked back a scream, but some small noises emitted anyway no matter how hard he tried to quell it. He dropped his head panting as Raderean screamed out at another lash.

"My love, only one lash for that outburst. I understand that that was extremely painful for you to endure, and because I am so kind, I will forgive such. Now, please, my love, understand I only wish to see your perfection," he said, sitting beside him and running his hand up his flesh leg to his hip.

Ed shivered as he watched him move his hand up and over his body, pausing at his pelvis to hold his hand just above the line of blond hair. "Now, my love, what is your name? You may speak, softly."

"E-Edward…E-Elric…" he said, almost in a whisper, still hearing the boy on the floor quietly sobbing.

"Edward, what a lovely name for my sweet consort," he mused. "You are perfection," he said, reaching up and pulling his loose blond hair down and running fingers through it. "Such a beautiful creature, I think you have been sent to me by the heavens. A perfect being with a perfect mind who can give me everything I ever wanted."

Ed shivered. "Now, of course, you must be trained to answer my desires perfectly. So Andka here will help you. During training, you will not be punished by your proxy, because it will take time for you to learn the way of being my perfect consort. Once you are ready, you will be seated beside me, and we will rule this world together, my lovely Edward."

Ed swallowed nervously and looked around the room. The guy was insane. Totally and completely insane. And as Ed glanced to the redhead who was standing shakily he was truly afraid of what would happen if he approached this with his normal hot headedness. He could take his own pain, but to watch another suffer because of him…he wasn't sure that he could handle that.

The one in the grey robes smiled. "Enjoy your rest, chibi-san," he said. "I'll return to begin our lessons come morning."

Ed blinked, a frown marring his face. Wait…that name. His eyes flashed up at the grey robed figure and he winked at him, the eye turning briefly violet. No wonder his leg had been removed so easily. Envy. But what was the homunculus doing here?

The man placed a hand on his chest and smiled. "I do look forward to my first night with you, my love, but I must insist on the proper training this time. I do not want to hurt you accidently like the other boy…he just cried so much…but you will be prepared for him. I would simply die if I were to lose my sweet consort!"

He turned and left, followed by the two robed figures. Envy turned and winked a violet eye at him again. Ed could feel his heart being in his throat as the Raderean pulled the covers over him and proceeded to curl himself up on the lounge. Not a moment later the room was plunged into darkness, and a soft smell overcame him, and soon after the irresistible pull of sleep.

-Central-

"You can't tell me no one has heard of this guy," Falman yelled into the phone, hands running through his hair absently.

Roy was hidden in his office while his team worked. They needed to find this guy. But with the three in custody, they had no way to even begin to contact him for even in a covert mission. This was not turning out well. Then the door opened and Maes was standing there with a file.

Roy looked up and took it as it was handed to him. "What's this?"

"A blond kid, aged fifteen, was picked up wandering near the outskirts of central, and he's got an interesting story you should hear," Maes said. "We'll have to go down to the hospital again, he's not in great shape, but he's talking. A lot."

Before long, Roy, Riza and Maes all sat in the waiting room for the doctor to see them before they went to talk to the boy. He was a tall man, older and seemed to have a good bedside manner. He looked them over.

"Normally, I wouldn't allow this, considering what the boy has been through. But I know that you are looking for your alchemist who may be connected to this, and I don't want any more kids in here in the condition that he was brought in, or the condition this kid was in," he said, sighing.

Roy nodded. "Understood, doctor. What is his condition?"

"Well, he had several broken ribs, a sprained wrist and a broken ankle. He'd also been stabbed in the chest, amazingly the person doing it missed anything life threatening, though he did almost die of blood loss. Other than that, bruising, cuts and obvious sexual assault. Now, please do not push him too far, he is not in the most stable frame of mind, but he insists that he has to talk to the military," he said and ushered them into a room.

They entered a private room where a boy with short blond hair sat fiddling with the sheet. His head shot up when they entered, and his face was bruised in several places. He nodded to them.

"Hey, I'm Colonel Mustang, these are my friends, Riza and Maes. You can call me Roy if you want," he said.

"My names Chardan Bellman. I'm glad you came so fast. I want you to help Raderean if you can, please."

Roy pulled up a chair. "Chardan, why don't you start from the beginning so we can figure out what's going on."

He nodded. "We, Raderean and me, went to this meeting for alchemy students. Then we woke up and were in this huge mansion. Then this weird guy was fawning all over both of us, telling us how beautiful and perfect we were. But he didn't like my hair, said it was too short. Then he didn't like Raderean's hair because it was too red. But then…then he took Raderean one night and when he brought him back he was different, scared I think. He didn't talk much after that. But the next night he took me to his bed…and I found out what he wanted. I…I was scared and I screamed because he hurt me…and then he was hitting me and that was hurting even worse and then he stabbed me with his arm…but it wasn't his arm…but it was, you know?"

Roy nodded to encourage him to continue. Behind him, he knew, Riza was recording the conversation so they could go over it in more detail and slowly.

"And…and this guy…I dunno who he was, but he kept telling me he was sorry for all of it…that I should have been quiet…that he hated the noise so much that it drove him mad…and…and he just left me on the side of the road, and I was bleeding and it hurt, but then this strange guy came along with gray hair, he musta been old, and he was muttering about kids getting into trouble. He stopped outside a store, and I managed to crawl out of his truck, because I didn't know if he was worse than the guy who hurt me, and then I remember passing out…" he said with a sigh. "I know Raderean must be there if he isn't dead, mister, and I don't want him to die."

Roy nodded. "Thanks, Chardan, but can you tell me anything else you saw when you were left before the man picked you up? I want to help Raderean, but I also need to help one of my subordinates who has been taken by the man who had you."

Chardan looked up with wide eyes. "Is he loud?"

"I'm afraid he's very loud and noisy…" Roy said.

"He's going to die then, Mister Roy. I'm sorry…but Raderean knew how to be quiet, but if your friend isn't quiet, he'll kill him…" he said softly. "Well, unless he gets trained."

"Trained?" Roy asked.

"Well, the man who had us had these two advisors and after I was hurt so bad they were talking to him about not breaking his consorts, whatever that means. And…the one…the one with the purple eyes…he said that he could train the next one to be quiet no matter what happened…and the man seemed to like that idea…" he said.

Roy frowned. "Purple eyes?"

The boy nodded. "Well not always, just every once in a while, when you looked at him right his eyes were purple, otherwise they were brown. Don't know why," he said thoughtfully. "But I thought I was dying and then they took me away."

Roy nodded, looking up at Riza and Maes. This definitely didn't sound good for Ed in the least. He smiled at the boy. "Is there anything you can remember about the place you were held or the place they left you?"

He looked thoughtful for a long moment. "I remember that I smelled something like water, and I heard water somewhere. And before the guy picked me up, I thought I smelled something like oil, but it was pretty hazy then."

Roy nodded. "Thanks, you work on getting better, and call us if you think of anything else, okay?"

The kid grinned. "I will Mister Roy. Hey, why do you think that man told me I wasn't perfect because I had no scars?"

Roy frowned. "I don't know…that's an odd thing to say…"

"Yeah, he said that I wasn't perfect without imperfections. That even if I were quiet I'd never be his consort…" he said thoughtfully.

Roy and the others left and stood thoughtfully in the foyer of the hospital. "Consort? He acts like he thinks he's some sort of king or god…" Maes said, looking out into the rain that had begun while they were inside.

"I can only think of one area in the west where there is both water and oil," Roy said thoughtfully. "I think we should investigate the area, and maybe find our mystery man who rescued that kid and brought him with him to central."

-Blessed Sanctuary-

Ed awoke to the feeling of someone sitting on the bed beside him. His eyes flew open and he was staring at the gray robed figure from yesterday. He smiled, then the face melted as the shape shifting homunculus grinned, greenish black hair tumbling down his back and purple eyes glittering at Ed. Ed growled.

"Envy, what do you want? What are you doing here?" he asked.

Envy grinned and yanked away the cover, exposing him. "Ah, pipsqueak, aren't you sweet looking without that nasty metal cluttering you up?"

"Fuck off, Envy, I don't know what kind of sick game…"

_Smack._

Ed was shocked as his face was slapped violently by Envy. He turned and glared at her. "Now, now, Edo, I'm here to help you. I'm here to train you for the king of this castle. So you don't end up dead like the last little blond he had when he lost control."

Ed frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Envy was slithering up on top of him now, and he had no way to throw him off. "See, he doesn't like noise…sets off this thing…blind rage, and he transmutes his bones like ya transmute yer automail…amazin' really. And he just lashes out. So, he's all in love with ya as his consort, but he can't stand noise when he's fuckin'. So…I gotta train ya to not utter a peep no matter what he does to you…because one yelp or scream and he'll take yer head off…so see, chibi, I'm just tryin' ta help ya."

Ed wanted to push him off. "No, get off me, just leave me alone…I won't…Ah!"

He cried out as he felt Envy's hands slip under him to probe him with his thin fingers. "See chibi, ya can't do that…now, I'm gonna finger fuck ya until you can keep quiet…got it?"

Ed squeezed his eyes shut as he rammed his fingers into him over and over, eliciting yelps and pained hisses at first until he finally managed to stop making any noise at all at the violent intrusion of all four of his fingers into him.

"Good…good…now for the rest, sweet chibi…"

Ed's eyes flew open and he shook his head as Envy climbed up, sliding his one leg over his own and positioned himself against him. He began to weep at the memory of what had happened the first time in that warehouse. Envy grinned and snapped his hips hard into him, getting a near scream out of him at the burning and tearing sensation ripping through him again.

"Ah, that's no good, chibi, we'll have to do it again after I'm done this time…" he said, staring down at him with a wide grin. "Not that I mind too much, so keep screaming, I can do this all day, chibi…"

"No, please, just stop this…" he groaned, feeling dampness seep down onto the bed under him.

"Where's the fun in that, pipsqueak? I'm having a good time here…"

By the fifth time, Ed was nearly unconscious and couldn't have given a response if he'd tried. Envy finished with a violent snap of his hips, causing the bed to groan under the weight. She leaned over and patted him on the cheek. "Good chibi…now a few more days and you'll be a docile little whore, now won't you?"

Envy morphed his shape into the docile monk Andka again and grinned at the mess he'd left in the bed. He wondered if he should bother covering the young alchemist. He snickered. What would be the point in that? That stupid redhead would just have to clean it up anyway. He stalked to the door, opening it to find the dimwit standing beside it.

"Clean him up and get him ready for lunch. I come back, I want the place spotless, got it, brat?" he said with a snarl.

He nodded. "Yes sir, Andka, thank you."

He scurried off into the room like a good little mouse. Envy was pretty sure that the kid was smart, but whatever the "master" had done to him had seemed to break the poor kid's mind. Envy shrugged. Oh well. Not like he wasn't trying to do that to the dumb chibi. He smiled. He doubted the stupid pipsqueak would break easily, so he was sure he'd get at least two or three more days with him before he reached the proper degree of passivity and quiet to please the "master". Envy snickerd, passing the dark cloaked advisor.

"You look pleased, _Andka_."

"Of course, I'm breakin' that chibi down. It's fun," he answered and heard a deep chuckle from the other.

"When you think you're done, I'll test whether he's fully broken or not. We can't have our dear master killing the famed Fullmetal, now can we?"

Envy shook his head. "Not at the least."

As they disappeared, a figure in the shadows melted away. No one noticed the shadows when they moved on their own. And it seemed to be a good thing for the person in them. He was a different sort, after all. He'd followed her directives, investigating this town, and he had been surprised when she came across the situation of alchemists being brought in for some reason. He slithered through the shadows and found his way into the room where he watched from under the drapes as the boy named Raderean wept as he washed the blond alchemist with a bucket of warm water.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Edward, please, do what they say so they'll stop…I…I'm weak, I know it, but I can't do anything…" he softly murmured as he cleaned the bound teen of sweat, blood and other fluids. He'd already used alchemy to clean the sheets, one of the few things he'd learned before being kidnapped to this place. A lot of good an alchemist who could clean clothes and sheets was in the long run. He finished cleaning him, and gently pulled the cover over him. "I couldn't save Chardan, and it looks like I won't be able to save you either…but I'll be here…and I clean the mess they leave, and try to help you…but I'm sorry I'm so weak…"

The shadows moved and he looked up. The boy shook his head, while outside the building in the shadow of a large tree, a vaguely male shadow shook with silent sobs. He sighed and was gone in a moment, the Shadowdancer Alchemist had to report in to a very specific person. Only a few knew of the strange powers that moved within the mansion. And he could only assume that the reason the boy known as the Fullmetal Alchemist was in there like that was because he was one of them, one that understood the creatures that were not quite human… And one of the others was the boy's superior, Colonel Roy Mustang, if he didn't miss his guess.

The Shadowdancer Alchemist worked alone; information, recon and assassination were his specialty. Few knew of his existence, and even fewer could command him. But he well knew the Flame Alchemist, even if he didn't know him specifically. He was sure he would be more than familiar with his work in Ishvale, however. He moved through the shadows, leaping between the connections that were just beyond the physical world, from shadow to shadow. He had limits, and he was stretching them now. Of course, not even his superiors knew the depth of his knowledge.

Finally, he emerged from the shadows into an alley. He was close to where the would be king, god, whatever he thought he was, lived, but in a town close by. It was an oil drilling area, and the smell was thick on the air. A few moments later and he was connected with the person he wanted.

"Colonel Mustang, what is it, I don't have time for this?" he asked.

"Flame, I think you would want information on Fullmetal," he said smoothly.

There was a pause. "What? You know where he is? This is…what did you say you were, Shadowdancer Alchemist? I've never heard of you."

"Of course not, the only people who have heard of me are usually dead before they can repeat my title. No, I'm in Kaverat, the oil town out west. He's being held not far from where I am, but I know the trip from Central takes at least two days. I know he was brought here through alchemical means, but you don't have them, so I suggest you hurry, or you might not have much of an alchemist to get back…" he said softly, trying not to attract attention at the phone booth.

"Can't you do something?" the colonel snapped.

"I wish I could, Flame. But the situation is…difficult. There are powers in that mansion that are not of…humans." There was a long pause. "I do not think my powers over shadows will be enough to deal with them. And Fullmetal isn't in any condition to use alchemy, considering his automail is missing among other things."

"Understood. We'll be there as soon as we can."

The phone clicked off. All the Shadowdancer alchemist could do was wait. He was useful, incredibly so, but only if he had the element of surprise, and it didn't work well on other alchemists of whatever those things were that were constantly around Dreasal.


	4. The Consort's Broken Will

The following morning began as the day before, confusion and pain. The strange sweet scent was still in his nose and he was feeling woozy and tired even though he'd slept all night. Envy was breathing on him as he woke and let out a startled yelp. His eyes went wide as he felt him arranging his body, flipping him over to his stomach, leaving him exposed from a different angle. There was a clink as the cuff on his wrist was slapped into place above him. His leg was somewhat twisted, but the length of the chain holding his ankle was enough for him.

"Oh, chibi, you're awake? Well, time to give this a different go, and get ya used to this angle. Sometimes the lord doesn't want to look at his consort's face, ya know, and this is quite the lovely angle." Envy practically purred, pulling his hips up, literally supporting his weight with one hand due to the missing limb.

"Please…no more…just stop…" he groaned, feeling those long digits force their way into him. He was quiet though, no yelp or cry of surprise. Was he already so expecting this? The answer was simple, he was. And he just wanted it to be over. But something else was wrong, his head was buzzing and the will to fight was faded much more than the day before.

Envy grinned, shoving his fingers hard into him and watching as he shivered below him but made no sound. "Good, good boy…perfect, actually. Now, can you keep it up when I'm buried?"

The hand left and was replaced as Envy continued his "training" from the day before. The pain was just as intense, no preparation, and no time for any sort of adjustment. Since Envy was greeted with silence and quiet breaths, he giggled happily and left him after three rounds to ensure his silent compliance. The truth was, he simply wanted to be sated himself. The last time wasn't really necessary, but damn was it fun. By then he'd gotten the soft tears that were soaking the pillow under the alchemist. That was Envy's favorite part, after all. After he summoned the redheaded idiot back into the room, he skipped, his form shifting to the grey monk until he found the black cloaked man.

"Hey, Greed, he's as silent as a mute today. Ya wanna check mah work?" he said with a wink.

The cloaked figure smirked. "Of course, but after dinner, when he's been cleaned up. I don't like sloppy seconds, you know, Envy. The _lord_ has requested your presence to discuss the training regime. I'm sure if things go well tonight, he can be sent to him by morning."

Envy snickered and skipped off until he came to the throne room door. Throne room, it was amusing to him. Of course, that was how Lord Dreasal saw the place. His own little castle in the clouds. Even if it was really just a run down two story farm house from the outside. But inside, it was a different story, and there was the nice, large basement where the consort was kept.

"My lord?" Andka called and entered.

The man in white turned, his eyes wide and glossy. "Yes, how is my sweet Edward doing?"

"He'll be ready by morning, if he passes the final test by Yere this evening," he said softly. This guy was a nutcase, and he wasn't going to get punched or kicked by the idiot or stabbed by his ridiculous alchemy that he couldn't control anymore.

The Bonemake Alchemist had once been sane. Very sane, actually. He had a unique ability to bend the minerals in bones to his will, and that included his own bones. He'd been a quietly deadly weapon in Ishvale, and was believed to have died there, even as far as to be listed on the fallen. He hadn't fallen. Instead, he'd been captured and tortured. By the end, he had refused to spill any secrets, but the process had broken him completely. He was left for dead, only to be found by a rather ruthless band of mercenaries. They healed him, and helped him reawaken his memories. Doing so was a bad idea. He ended up murdering every last one of them and wandering off, eventually landing in Kaverat. For a long time, he wandered the streets. And he was utterly, and completely insane.

In that state, a certain homunculus found the alchemist, and hatched a plan to see how far he could push that madness. It was all in sadistic fun. Envy had come along later, and found it amusing and decided to play a game with Greed to relieve the boredom. And that was where the idea of the perfect consort to the king came from. Envy had been excited to see if the man could do it, actually capture the Fullmetal pipsqueak.

The farmhouse quickly became the castle, and the mad alchemist sunk deeper and deeper into his delusion of being the king of his castle. Devoted followers were easy to find, because the man was irresistible. That and the ability to rip the bones clean out of a person was intimidating. Soon he attracted those with as much sadism as the two homunculi. The shack of a farmhouse was slowly transformed, on the inside at least. From the outside it was just as rough and run down as before. But inside, with alchemy and unpaid labor, it became as close to a castle as one could want. But that meant that from the outside the group and their insane leader attracted no attention from Kaverat at all.

Greed spoke for the "lord" when it came to the others, in fact he was really the one in control simply because the Bonemake Alchemist was simply too insane to do anything like organize. So they had attracted a couple more alchemists, a man once known as the Groundbreak Alchemist, and another once known as the Ironbanded Alchemist. They were also "lost" soldiers that had never returned to the military life once they had a taste of life without rules. And for once, Envy wasn't bored at all. He headed down the hallway again, skipping, and grabbed a chocolate bar off the table in his room as he flopped on his bed. Yes, he wasn't bored at all.

-Train en route to Kaverat-

Roy was annoyed, to say the least. It couldn't be avoided. It was taking too long, and from what Shadowdancer said, they were running against the clock. But Roy couldn't help that. He sat, staring out the window at the rain as the train flew on through the land. He wasn't really looking though. The only thing that made sense was the "non-humans" were homunculi. And they knew already they were dealing with at least two alchemists. Roy had a vague memory of someone that had iron around him like the one Breda described…but he couldn't pin it. He huffed.

"Colonel, if you don't settle down, you're going to drive us all insane before we get there," Maes said, sitting down with a cup of coffee in each hand.

Roy rolled his eyes at his friend. "I know. But I keep trying to put this together. Do you know this Shadowdancer? He acted like he was pretty useless."

Maes nodded. "He's good at recon. I checked in and he's really good at what he does, uses shadows to transport himself from place to place and hide. But that's the limit of his ability. He's highly specialized. And completely useless against alchemists, except to spy on them. It was lucky he was in the area to give us good intel, but he works mostly alone. He'll have been on some mission other than this, I'm sure, and is taking the time to help us out. He's a good guy…if a little creepy."

Roy nodded. "Well, I guess confirmation of where Fullmetal is located is useful. I just wish the guy could get him out."

Maes shook his head. "Yeah, I'm not sure, if we're dealing with homunculi and alchemists, with Ed incapacitated…"

"Well, we have Al and Armstrong with us, and Riza's still a dead shot," Roy said, glancing about the train car.

Maes nodded. "We'll get him out. No matter what, Roy."

-Blessed Sanctuary-

The door opened again, and the red-haired boy looked up to see the black cloaked figure of the first advisor to the lord.

"Out," he said, and the redhead was gone.

Ed lifted his head and stared at the cloaked figure who grinned. It was a feral thing and he felt his heart hitch. It looked familiar. The cloak dropped and Ed knew why.

"Greed," he said softly. Something seemed to be wrong, his voice really wouldn't rise above the soft volume. "What are you doing here?"

Greed grinned, his dark eyes glittering. "I'm taking my job very seriously, wouldn't want my _lord_ to destroy his consort the first chance he has to fuck him, now would I?"

Ed pulled himself up and tried to yank his arm down. "Why are you doing this? What's in it for you?"

Greed sat down on the bed beside Ed. "Well, I get to fuck anything I want, get to eat anything I want, and get to live in this lovely place. Opulence is my favorite thing. And ya know, you aren't too bad. No chic, but well, can't be choosy when presented with such a tempting opportunity."

Ed choked as Greed's hand wrapped around his neck, pressing tightly until his vision started to waver and then he pulled back. "I love that look…"

In a swift move, he removed the covering and stared at Ed. "I would have come in earlier, but Envy gets so caught up in his own pleasure he leaves such a mess…and I don't like messes when I do this. Unless I make them."

Ed choked and wanted to scream but already the thought of screaming made him think of the fact that it would take longer. And the faster he was done with him, the sooner he'd be left alone, so despite it, he bit down on his lip and closed his eyes, feeling like he should just lose himself. He was already so used and disgusting… He'd never be clean, and he knew all the alchemy in the world wouldn't clear the stains from him. So what did it matter anymore? To be honest, though, it was like all the will to fight had been drained of him completely. Even speaking was an effort and he just wanted to sleep again.

"No one will come for you; you know that right, Fullmetal?" Greed said, his clothes falling, his skin gained a bluish tint, and Ed remembered he was called the Shield because he could rearrange the molecules. "And as much as Envy was rough, let's just say it will be a test of your training when I'm done with you, boy…"

And he couldn't have been more right. There was no preamble, no warning. One moment he was kneeling there, running blue tinted hands over Ed's hips and the next, he was arched in a soundless scream as he felt like he was being pulled in two by some foreign implement. Hands gripped his hipbones like iron and he knew there would be purple bruises left there. It wasn't like Envy, there was no give, no softness, just searing heat that made his eyes water heavily and want to pass out. He heard the Shield chuckle as he rocked against him, and he managed to limit his voice to nothing more than a soft wheeze. If there had been an unbroken part of his will, it was shattered in that moment. He felt the blood slicking Greed's length now, but there was no ease in it. Even when Greed accidently hit something that sent a single spark of…something…all he did was feel a tiny pleasure drown under the wave of pain.

Greed was done soon, but it felt like hours, releasing hard, striking seemingly deeper than before and then pulling away, dropping his hips and grinning as he watched the blood and his seed leak from him onto the sheets below. Ed was silent, eyes focused on the wall, not even bothering to look at Greed.

The last sliver of resistance he had held to so tightly had broken. He gave in to the overwhelming apathy that was threatening to cover him earlier. No tears even bothered to fall now despite the searing pain that shot through him still. The door opened and closed and the redhead was back, cleaning and washing and now he couldn't look at him. Greed was right. His last, desperate hope had been Roy. Why Roy, Ed wasn't sure. He had been clinging to the idea that Roy would come. He'd been there in the warehouse…he'd carried him out…seen him break down. But maybe that was why he wouldn't come. Why would anyone want someone so broken and disgusting as Ed was now? Not only was he crippled, but he couldn't even protect himself from this torment. Maybe it was deserved. He had done such horrible things, and perhaps equivalent exchange was coming to haunt him. His arm and leg hadn't been enough. Now, the rest of him would pay the price for what he'd done, for taking away his little brother's childhood, for the ultimate sins of his short life.

Yes, this was no less than he deserved.

Raderean stared at the boy and he didn't know what to do. He couldn't help him escape, especially not with him only having one leg and one arm… He wondered what had happened to the others? He finished cleaning him again; wincing at the bloody mess the dark advisor had left him in. But he had been informed he was to be presented to the lord after breakfast, so he had to be prepared for him. He eventually slept, and the redhead sighed deeply, staring at his useless hands. If he had known more alchemy…but he didn't. He left the room, shutting the door as a sweet odor began to permeate it once again, allowing Ed to slide deeper into the dreamless state he was craving.

Morning found Raderean waking up to the cook bringing in food. He ate quickly, and then awoke the young lord Edward. Ed started at him in confusion.

"My lord, you must eat and then you are to be presented to the Lord," he said smiling. "He is excited to have you at his side."

Ed blinked and nodded, and to his surprise, the redhead unlocked his wrist and ankle. It wasn't like he could really run away in that condition. He helped him to sit up and he winced at how much it hurt. Even with two legs he knew he wouldn't be capable of walking. He ate slowly, simple oatmeal. He ignored the glass of milk and gave it to his companion who wanted to refuse.

"Give me water," he said softly.

Raderean nodded, drinking the milk then refilling it with water. They waited until the two advisors came in. Andka smiled at Ed and threw a white robe over his shoulders, tying it in the front. He reached down and hefted the smaller boy up easily in his arms. He was incredibly light without the automail. They headed up a set of stairs, then another, and entered an extremely large bedroom. The grey robed figure deposited him on the large bed, sitting him on the end and those purple eyes flashed.

"Speak not to him, don't cry or scream. Greed told me what a good little slut you were for him, so you can handle your true master, little pet. Greed is cruel and likes to harden himself…" Envy gave a wicked grin and walked out, leaving Ed alone to sit at the end of the bed.

The robe was plush, and it felt pretty nice against his skin, but his heart sank when the door opened and he saw the white robed "lord" of this place. He moved forward and stood before Ed, looking him over. He reached over to a table beside the end of the bed and grabbed something that jangled. He went forward and snapped something around Ed's neck. Ed swallowed as he realized it was a collar. He wasn't sure what to think as a cuff was then attached to his wrist. He frowned at the clip imbedded in the leather. Dreasal pushed the white robe off his shoulders and smiled, looking over his tan flesh.

"You are the perfect consort. But you must be marked still," he said softly. He nodded at Ed, then took the cuff and there was a snap as it was connected to a ring at the front of his throat. He swallowed convulsively as the man shoved him backward onto the bed then flipped him to his stomach.

"Now, stay still, my love," he said softly and Ed closed his eyes. He had no idea what he was up to, but the position his hand was in under his chin was damned uncomfortable and pressed into his airway painfully.

He heard him move behind him and then felt something touch his back and he almost screamed as he realized his skin was burning. A branding iron. The guy was using a branding iron on his back. He bit into his lip until it was bleeding and his eyes began to roll up into his head, darkness encroaching on his vision when it was finally lifted. He panted harshly into the sheets. There was a movement and he felt the man spread something on top of the burnt flesh and then covered it with a soft bandage.

"There, my love. A mark that will tell any who you belong to without a doubt. Now, to consummate our perfect love," he said, and yanked Ed up higher on the bed by his collar. He bit back a yelp a the sudden movement, and was flipped back to look up at the ceiling as the now naked man hovered over him.

Ed swallowed, looking over the figure over him. He was thin, painfully so, and was covered with old scars, both cuts and burn scars. He could tell the marks of torture, so he wondered why this man would do something like this to another person. He just stood there, staring at Ed until he smiled.

"I never thought that what Andka said was true, that there was a perfect consort for me. So beautiful…and it took so long to find you! And now, so sweet and quiet… Thanks to Andka. I didn't want to see you hurt. I already killed far too many of my previous pale attempts at consorts. Before the two boys from Central, I have had about eight others that have failed to impress me…" he said, looking about.

Ed wanted to know if they were all dead. "I managed to keep Raderean, your proxy, and a couple others to work as servants. But I just couldn't hold myself back on some of them. They just…were not you…so perfect in your beautiful imperfection…a body as scarred and mangled as my own, my dear love…"

Ed swallowed and nodded to him. He didn't want him to talk anymore. He wanted this over with. But did it really matter? There was a click and a chain was attached to the right side of the collar, and he followed it up to another ring on the head of the bed. He looked back to the man over him. He was running his hands over his leg, and then over the ports on the other side. He wondered where his automail leg had gone to as he teased the flesh around the ports. It felt odd. Finally he guessed his master had enough of the waiting.

He kneeled over him and moved his leg out of the way, and he watched him pump his own arousal a couple times, then, seemingly satisfied with himself, he reached down and pressed his fingers into him. Ed flinched, still incredibly sore from the day before. He felt a shock of pain and when he brought his hand back up, it was stained red. Apparently, whatever had been torn the day before was still leaking blood when he touched it. Ed swallowed, a familiar shock of pain rocketing through his back as the man seated himself inside him with a guttural groan. He swallowed and looked away at the wall, trying to ignore the sensation, and reminding himself he was indeed paying the price he needed to pay. Equivalent exchange, after all.

He vaguely heard the man muttering on about perfection and being a beautiful thing, and angelic, and Ed tuned it out, tears collecting, but he refused to shed them. Not yet. When he was gone, he would sob his pain, but he wanted to do it alone, not with him over him. Never with him, master, over him. He couldn't believe he'd been reduced to this so easily. So very easily. Perhaps he desired it, this punishment. Maybe it was always meant to be. As much as he distanced himself, when the stinging liquid flooded him, his stomach roiled and threatened to rejected that breakfast he'd eaten. He felt him pull away and winced at the pain of it and then he patted him, kissing his forehead and telling him he was an excellent consort, perfect in every way.

Raderean came into the room and cleaned him once more and said that Andka would take him to the throne room in a moment to sit at the feet of his master. He nodded and sighed, his fingers numb in the cuff at his throat. Eventaully, Envy came in and took him down the stairs to a large room without windows. There was a large comfortable looking chair in the middle of the room. Beside it was a ring embedded into the wooden floor. Envy set him down, and clicked the chain that was hooked to his neck into the one on the floor.

"Now, dear consort, come sit at my feet while I deal with my duties for the day," he said, and Ed pushed himself with his one leg against the side of the chair, leaning against the man's leg. He smiled and ran a hand through the gold hair of the bowed head.

"Andka, bring him the clothes I bought for him to wear in here, I can't let others view what is mine and mine alone…" he said, looking behind him.

"Yes, my lord!" Envy said and returned with a piece of white fabric that he tied around Ed's waist. He looked down to see it at least covered his nakedness, almost like a skirt, but more like a large apron that went around his front and back, covering one hip and tied on the other one. He sighed and didn't move when it was put there. He couldn't have if he wanted to.

His master leaned down and pulled the bandage off the brand, pushing him forward to admire it. "The brand took well. Before I take you to bed this evening, I'll bandage it again. We want it to heal cleanly after all."

Again, he bowed his head and waited. What else could he do? He was helpless, dirty and weak. And paying the price for past sins. He wondered though at why he felt so docile. Even with everything, he still thought it was strange. But then he was reminded of that sweet smell at night before he went to sleep. Could it be some sort of drug…

\- Kaverat-

It was just after dawn when they exited the train at the station and headed toward the Inn where the Shadowdancer Alchemist waited. They made it there in short order and found a tall, reed thin man with black hair and sunken eyes. Roy looked at him thoughtfully for a moment then sat down at the table beside him.

"I've written everything I observed in this report for you, Colonel. I'm afraid my own mission has been on hold long enough waiting for you. Just fair warning, I think there are at least two alchemists, soldiers for the state if I don't miss my guess, at least at one time. Good luck getting your kid back, just remember, it won't be easy. If you can't get him out of there, I suggest you burn the place, with him in it," he said, standing and looking back at the horrified expression of several of Mustang's team.

"Trust me; it would be a kindness rather than leaving him there. There may not be much to save anymore, and it might be better if you just did that anyway," he said, looking sad for a second before he melted into the shadows and was gone.


	5. A Raging Flame Lit

"We need to find out what condition he's in," Roy muttered, looking over the incredibly detailed file in front of him. There were maps of the place, some old farmhouse on the outskirts of town. From what Shadowdancer had put together, it seemed that there were several servants which may have been kidnapped alchemists. Shortly after they entered the area, they started hearing rumors of several missing boys, two of which had been found dead, but the others, a total of six, were still missing. And the part that gave the team a shiver was the description. All were between 14 and 16 and blond. All had shown some sort of interest in alchemy, even if they hadn't begun training.

There were at least two trained alchemists, and from what he'd gathered the "lord" was a deranged lunatic and possible alchemist himself. Breda and Fuery had headed out to ask questions about the small town and returned with the information that no one went near that house because the man was totally insane, and it had gotten worse since the two cloaked figures joined him. Apparently he would come into town with them, dressed up like some sort of lord, and claim that he was the "king" and "master" of the area, the two men with him introduced as his advisors. Most the people of the town ignored him, but some were genuinely afraid of the man. They said he had some freaky magic, that he could control other people at will.

Roy pulled on the ignition gloves, glancing outside at the bright day. He smiled. He had a feeling flames would be rolling over something before the end of the day, and it would please him to no end to have those flames covering this crazy alchemist. They'd decided that this lord was an alchemists, and his freaky magic was nothing more than alchemy, and it sounded familiar to the Flame alchemist.

Finally, Havoc came in, cigarette hanging from his lip and grinned at Roy.

"Seems like this lunatic entertains 'petitions' from his subjects. No one actually goes, but they say he sits there all day and awaits anyone who wants to ask something of him. Maybe one of us could go in like that," he said grinning.

Roy nodded. "Good idea, but not me, I'm too recognizable. You and Riza?" he asked, looking at the gun toting woman.

"What would we ask for?" the blond woman asked, frowning.

"I know exactly, tell him you're taking the train and need bodyguards, and then we'll see if you can get the two alchemists to escort you this afternoon, then once they're separated, we can disable them, leaving less threat in the house," Roy said thoughtfully. "Then we go and get Fullmetal. Less risk to us, and to him."

Havoc grinned. "Genius, boss. Let's go Riza, gotta get some regular clothes, can't go in the uniforms," he said, pulling her away.

About half an hour later, they returned and changed clothes, Havoc in a simple pair of pants and loose shirt with boots, and Hawkeye into a plain dress. She didn't look happy at the clothing choice. Havoc teased her and said to do it for Ed. She sighed and they set off, and the rest waited impatiently for their return.

Al had been silent the whole way, and Roy knew he was worried about his brother. He wouldn't have brought him, but the more skilled alchemists the better. He swirled coffee in his cup as he pored over the file again, identifying infiltration points and hoping that they could do this with minimal damages, both to themselves and the town they were in.

-Blessed Sanctuary-

Havoc and Hawkeye stood at the doorway and knocked. A man in a grey cloak answered and looked them over.

"We can to petition the lord," Havoc said smoothly, chewing at the cigarette in his mouth.

"Ah, please come this way. Please, be soft in word and deed, he gets angry with loud noises," said the cloaked man.

They were escorted into a larger room where a thin dark haired man sat reclining in a large chair, a table beside him with tea. He was thumbing a book, and at his feet was a sight that made both Havoc and Hawkeye tense. Both recognized Ed immediately, but neither expected to see him like this. His head was bowed, and the man was running his hands absently through his hair. He was littered with cuts and bruises and there was some kind of mark on his back. His automail leg was gone, and he sat leaning heavily against the man's leg, no doubt with little balance. His only clothes were some sort of wrap around his waist. His hand was clipped to a collar at his throat and a chain fell against his body to the floor.

"Yes, my subjects? Welcome to my realm, the Blessed Sanctuary. What can I help you with today?" the man asked.

Havoc swallowed, wondering if Ed would blow their cover. "Ah, yeah, we're taking the train to central, and carrying some precious cargo, family heirlooms, and, yeah, we wondered if you could offer protection for the trip in your benevolence, boss."

To both Hawkeye and Havoc's surprise, Ed didn't even move. He was sitting sideways, so they couldn't really see his face. The lord frowned. "Protection…" He looked up at the grey cloaked figure. "Are Bendal and Seraf available today?"

"Yes, my lord. I'm sure they would enjoy another trip to central, after all the retrieval mission didn't allow them much time to do anything for themselves. We could use some supplies for your consort, as well. I'm sure they could pick them up. You did want some special tools to play your favorite games," the man said with a grin at the two people before him.

The Bonemake Alchemist smiled softly and yanked Ed's hair until his face was leaned back over his lap, eyes wide but no sound escaped his lips. "What do you think, love? Would you like something new to play with for us?" There was no response, his eyes simply stared at the ceiling. "I think yes. I'll tire of the same games quickly, love, and then I might hurt you…and I don't want that…"

He let go of Ed's hair and his head flopped back down, almost bonelessly, the chains rattling, and striking a chord in Hawkeye's chest. Just what had he done to him in three days? The man resumed petting the golden hair at his knee. "Yes, yes, I could use a few things. Very well, what time are you leaving?"

Havoc had a hard time not letting his voice crack. "Um, the eleven o'clock train, my lord, unless we should wait…I know that it is already past nine…"

"No, that will do just fine. I am here to serve my subjects! I cannot allow rebellion to be incited among my people, so I will see to your needs," he said, his hands yanking on Ed's hair, causing his head to bend backward again onto his lap once again. "Yes, now that I have my perfect consort, I will soon be invading the next town to take over in my perfectly benevolent reign."

Havoc and Hawkeye were escorted out and then they couldn't get back to the Inn fast enough. When they entered they both simply stood and stared at each other for a long moment.

"Well, did you see him?" Roy asked, growing impatient.

"Yeah, but…boss…I…fuck," Havoc said, running a hand through his blond hair. "I mean, fuck, how the hell…three days…not even three full days…"

Al had come up. "What's wrong with brother?" he said.

Hawkeye shook her head. "I have no idea what he's done. He was there, chained to the floor beside him, and he just…wasn't there. He didn't look at us, didn't move on his own, and didn't even seem to hear anything. I…I don't know what to think."

"Was he drugged?" Roy asked, frowning at the news. A docile Edward Elric was an anomaly.

"Maybe, but we couldn't get too close to him. He…he was covered in bruises and cuts, and there was some sort of brand on his back from what I could tell," Havoc continued, heading to the bath because he was feeling slightly ill.

There was a long silence. "But, two of his men are meeting us at the station at eleven. So let's concentrate on getting the rest of the plan in order," Hawkeye continued. "I got a good eye on the place. If we're careful, we might have Ed out of there before dinner tonight."

-Blessed Sanctuary-

Greed grinned as he watched the two military people leave. "Ya think they're coming for him?"

Envy returned the grin. "Of course. Question is, do we want to stop them, or would it be even sweeter to let them have him back now that he's broken?"

"I like living here," Greed muttered with a frown.

"But imagine how much that bunch will die inside when they get their precious Fullmetal back like this. I mean, as if what we did wasn't enough, that shit he pumps inta the room at night is enough to mind fuck someone by itself…" Envy said, practically giggling at the thought. "It turned that redhead into a bumbling idiot after a week. And he wasn't even pumping near as much into the room for him. He wants our Edo to be docile and pliant as fuck."

Greed nodded. "Yeah, true. I mean, I was thinkin' bout heading east anyway, find some nice bitches to fuck. I'm more of a pussy man, after all…"

Now Envy really did giggle. "Wonderful. You have fun now, I'm going to stick around and hand over their little chibi in person. Wanna get a rise out of Flame."

"That bastard will try to roast ya," Greed reminded him.

Envy shrugged. "I'll regenerate. And it will be funny as fuck. Totally worth it."

The Shield grinned and left silently. Envy rubbed his hands together. This afternoon was going to be fun.

Shortly, Bendal and Seraf headed out to the train station. Once there they saw the couple waiting on them. What they didn't see was Armstrong and Al who had readied a trap, and before long, both alchemists were neutralized and hauled off to the town's jail to await someone to pick them up. Roy resisted the incredible urge to render them unto ashes. It was very hard to resist. He and the others had immediately recognized them as the two that had come and taken Ed from the hospital. Havoc and Hawkeye went and changed into their uniforms again, and the whole group headed to where the house was. Roy fought the urge to snort at the "castle" before him. A strong wind, or a burst of flames, would destroy it, it appeared.

Roy walked up to the front door, Al beside him. Around the house, his team were positioned to take alternate entry. With a knock, the door swung open and Roy frowned. No one was there. He raised a hand for the others to proceed. A ruckus was raised in the back of the house, and he knew Armstrong had found something to do. Shadowdancer had indicated there were a few paid thugs that kept watch over the "servants". Roy walked right in as though he was the lord of this so called palace. He looked around and found his way into the room Havoc and Hawkeye had been in, seeing an empty chair. He motioned to Al and Hawkeye who were behind him, and they moved together to head up a set of stairs where they heard someone talking. Roy held up a hand.

"My lord, please, I'd think about that further," a voice said. "I mean, ah, fuck it, you're fuckin' insane anyway," the voice changed.

"What?" there was a giggle from the first voice. "Who are you?"

"Hrm, you have visitors, king baby. Ya might wanna check on them, I'll stay with ya chibi…" the first voice said and Roy watched as the door flung open to reveal a mostly disrobed man. Behind him, on a large bed, Ed was chained against the head of it, and a familiar green haired homunculus sat cross legged beside him grinning.

The man frowned and then there was a smirk and he touched a burned in circle on his arm, and with a spurt of blood, a long thin bone shot out of the back of his hand. "Who are you? Get out of my castle," he said, moving forward.

"Bonemake," Roy muttered, remembering the grotesque technique of the man before him. He'd only seen it once, but it was enough. Even when he'd been in Ishvale he was sadistic and enjoyed killing. And the glint in his eye indicated that he was indeed insane.

He looked back into the room at the state Ed was in and his mind flashed red. Al had managed to push past the alchemist and was standing in front of Envy demanding him to hand over his brother. Roy didn't think as his fingers moved together, the snapping sound of the air bending to his will sending flames around the body in front of him. He had no hesitation, something he hadn't felt in a long while. There was no thought other than trying to reduce this man to pure ash at his feet. Even Hawkeye's voice telling him to stop didn't seem to break through. However, a choked sob from the room did and the flames died around the writing alchemist, and Roy stepped over his burnt body into the room.

Envy had grabbed Ed and pulled him into his lap and was petting his bowed head. Apparently, when he grabbed the young alchemist, he'd made the sound that broke Roy's concentration on completely obliterating the man before him. Envy grinned widely. "Flame! How nice of you to come by, I wouldn't try your little trick on me, though, not with your precious Fullmetal in my arms." He hugged him closer to him.

"What have you done to him?" Roy said tightly, realizing that the rest of his team was trickling into the room behind him.

Envy grinned broadly. "Oh I just had to train him proper for that crazy fucker. He don't like noisy fucks. Crazy bastard impaled at least three of th' boys he was supposed to keep as fuck toys cuz they screamed at him. The rest he just beat the fuck outta…" Another broad grin. "But I didn't wanna see the chibi here done that way so I figured I'd help 'im out. So glad I did."

Roy flinched. "What…did…you…do…to him…" he said, each word clipped.

"Well, what did I do? Well, it only took me about eight times to get him to stay quiet…okay, I admit it, the eighth time was just cuz I wanted to fuck him an extra time… But Greed had the most fun with him. You know, that fucker is sadistic…"

Envy had moved Ed to where his back was to them and Roy could clearly see the brand now. It was the mark from the homunculus branded into his flesh. "Why is that on him?"

Envy reached down to run a hand over the fresh burn. "Oh we convinced that idiot that it was his royal seal. Now Fullmetal is our little toy from now on…he makes a good fuck toy, you know, wouldn't mind taking him with me…"

Al was shaking, the tiny ringing sound from the jointures of the armor loud when Envy stopped talking to pet Ed's back, his head lying limply on his shoulder. Roy wasn't sure how long he could stand watching this. Ed was a mere doll in the hands of this thing before him. "Is he drugged?" Roy asked.

Envy smiled, laying Ed over his lap now, letting his head lay back as he stared at the ceiling blankly. The fingers in the cuff at his throat twitched a little, but no other movement was seen. "Somewhat. I gave that crazy fucker this stuff to help him 'calm' his toys. Has some interesting effects…but mostly we just broke him. Definitely broke him. Whatever was left, I watched shatter when Greed was done with him. Didn't even move when our idiot king took him this morning, moaning about how perfect he was. I like watching something so entertaining. But whatever. I'm bored."

Envy looked down at Ed's wide and blank eyes. He leaned over and forced a deep kiss on him, and he offered no resistance, not even really moving as Envy sat back up, saliva trailing from his mouth to Ed's for a moment. Then he shoved Ed off his lap and leaped for the window. As he did, a snap sounded as flames encompassed him for a moment as he laughed manically running and patting out the flames.

Al was kneeling by the bed in a minute and looking his mostly naked brother over franticly. "Brother!" he called and shook his shoulder.

Ed blinked and turned his eyes to him for a minute, the first movement any of them had seen. He opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut shaking his head. Roy moved over to him and kneeled on the bed beside him.

"Fullmetal, come on, snap out of it," he demanded and watched as he didn't move his eyes from Al's face and then Roy realized, he wasn't looking at Al, he was simply looking through him. Something was wrong with him. Something seriously wrong…he was too docile, even if what the homunculus said was true.

"We've got to get him back to central, there's no hospital here equipped enough to take care of him if he's been drugged, we don't even know what with…" Roy said, grabbing a blanket and tossing it around the boy and lifting him up. Ed finally looked at him and he thought his heart would break at those blank eyes. The fire was gone from the golden orbs.

"Roy?" he finally whispered, almost too soft to hear as Roy moved quickly from the room.

"Yeah, Ed, are you in there?" he said, stopping.

"Raderean…help Raderean…" he said, still far too softly for the boisterous and loud blond alchemist.

Armstrong spoke up. "I think it is the red haired boy from Central. We'll have to take him back with us, so I'll get him. Will Fullmetal be able to take the ride back? It is almost two days…"

"He'll have to, we'll be with him. We don't have any choice, there's no facility here for whatever they put into him. How is this Raderean kid?" Roy asked as they walked out of the building, the rest following.

"He's acting…oddly too. Slow and sluggish, so if Edward has been subjected to some substance, he may have also," Armstrong nodded and headed off to find said redhead.

The team proceeded to collect evidence throughout the place, and found several suspicious looking bottles with strange concoctions in them. If the homunculus had provided the substance, there really was no telling what exactly it was and where it had come from. It didn't take long, and then they were out the door.

Before long, everyone was on a train again, Ed lay out across a seat with Al sitting nervously across from him, fretting over him and the fact he made no noise no matter what it seemed. Roy was worried as well, but he didn't know what was worse. The quiet Ed was unsettling. He didn't talk to any of them, just rolled toward the back of the seat and stayed there. Everyone tried to engage him and he ignored all attempts. He refused most food, though it seemed at some point, halfway through the trip, his needs outweighed whatever was killing his appetite for food, and he ate a sparse meal. He then resumed his vigil at the back of the seat.

Al was beside himself, doing everything to even get an acknowledgement out of his older brother. He received silence, and when he pulled him over and made him look at him he didn't even get a glare. Even Roy's short jokes got no response. That was especially unnerving.

Finally, they had returned. Luckily, they had recovered Ed's automail leg, and they had called ahead to have Winry meet them at the hospital to hopefully fix his arm and leg as soon as they could. They had no idea if he would be up to it once they got there, but just in case it was better to have Winry on hand. Roy found himself unwilling to allow the others to carry him. He felt the absolute need to comfort the boy, because in less than a week, he had been to hell and back many times. And for the first time since he'd met the kid, he was wondering if he would ever recover from the wounds.

He was taken in immediately to be treated, and the team decided to go to headquarters, leaving Roy and Al to wait for information about his condition. It was a long wait. Eventually a familiar doctor came out, the one that had seen to Ed before. Dr. Centers was his name. He looked tired.

"Doctor, how is he?" Roy asked standing.

"I want you to quit bringing me patients in this condition, colonel, it does my heart no good. He's not in danger of dying, but we're trying to figure out what substance was used on him. Whatever it is, it is long lasting, and seems to have been absorbed through his lungs. The other kid you brought in, the red haired boy, also shows signs of it, and the kid you questioned the other day also had trace amounts in his system. Whatever it is has a psychotropic effect, leaving them in some sort of suggestible state at first, and then it seems like the suggestions stay active after the initial reaction. Until we can cleanse it from him, I'm not sure you'll get much from him," the doctor said with a sigh.

"And his physical injuries? How severe?" Roy asked softly.

The doctor shifted uncomfortably. "I'm at a loss. He's suffered some severe sexual trauma. And I mean almost to the point of needing surgery to fix some of the internal tearing. I don't think it will be necessary, but it is going to be a wait and see approach. Do you know if something was used on him? Because I've never seen something like that from a normal assault…"

Roy swallowed hard remembering the properties of the homunculus Greed. "Something like that," he said with a heavy sigh.

"There are a number of bruises, and his arm that was sprained when he was here before is in more serious shape now, and I'm going to have to put him through surgery to reattach a tendon that's been torn in his wrist. He appears to have avoided any infections, but we're going to have to watch the branding on his back closely and make sure it stays clean and dry. It was applied with a longer duration than was necessary, I can say that much. I'm most worried, though of his lack of verbal reaction. I examined his vocal cords, and mouth, and all seems to be intact," the doctor said, clearing his throat.

"He spoke to me, to ask me to help the other kid," Roy said. "He was quiet, but his voice was otherwise normal."

The doctor nodded. "You're going to need someone to work with him that specializes in this kind of trauma. I'm pretty sure you're dealing with some post-traumatic stress disorder. And if you don't deal with it, he may not want to speak again."

"How hard was he to deal with during the exams?" Al asked. "He hates needles, so he fights them…"

The doctor nodded. "Unfortunately, we did have to restrain him. I think it did more harm than good because he was obviously bound for the last three days by whoever had held him. He became panicked that then seemed to retreat into himself even further, but we couldn't avoid it." He paused, then fixed Roy with a stare. "I'm assuming that the new addition to the burn ward that is under military guard may be the perpetrator in this situation?" he said arching a brow at the Flame alchemist.

Roy stared at the ignition gloves and shrugged. "He was going to attack us, and I took the opportunity to remove him from the picture. But there were others that got away from us as well who were the real culprits, manipulating that man."

The day passed and nothing seemed to change. Finally, Al was allowed to stay with Ed overnight, and Roy made his way home, heart and head heavy.

He wanted to help Fullmetal, but he had no idea how…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I've caught this one up to FFnet, so I have no more written at the moment. I'll update as soon as I get another chapter done, but I hope at least this leaves everyone in a good place to pause!


	6. A New Turn

_Nineteen Months Later_

Roy sighed as Riza put more paperwork on his desk.  He groaned and continued working.  It had been so busy over the last month, especially the paperwork.  He had no idea what the rest of the world did with its time, but he was stuck in his office signing things and filling out papers.  Such a boring part of the job.  He was about to fall asleep when there was a knock at the door.  He jerked awake and looked up to see Havok standing there.

“Sir, you have a visitor,” he said, and nodded behind him where Alphonse Elric stood in his armored visage.

Roy nodded, pushing the chair back and looking up.  “Yes, send him in.”

Al came in and sat down, head tilted even though he had no real eyes to look at Roy with.  “Colonel, I have to ask you something, and you can say no, but I need your help.  I’m going back home.”

Roy nodded.  “That’s understandable.  Do you think taking Ed to Resembul will help?”

Al looked up, metal face inscrutable.  “Sir, I…I don’t want to take him with me.  I’m leaving him in Central.  I…can’t do it.  It’s been nearly a year and a half, Colonel.  He’s not better.  He hasn’t said a word since we brought him back.  He just sits.  Colonel, that’s not my brother anymore.  I don’t know who it is, but it isn’t brother.  I just…I have to get away for a while.”

Roy blinked and stared at him.  Al was wanting to give up on Ed?  He couldn’t quite grasp it. “Where are you leaving Ed while you’re gone?” he asked.  Of  course he’d come back.  He was Ed’s brother.

Al hesitated.  “I…I was thinking of putting him in the psychiatry ward at the hospital.”

Roy frowned.  “Alone?” he reacted.

“See, Colonel, that’s why I came to you.  I wanted…I wanted to ask if you would care for him so I didn’t have to put him away.  If…if he goes in there, he’ll never come out, both of us know that, Colonel.  I’ve nearly given up, sir.  I have.  I feel terrible, like a failure, because I haven’t been able to do anything for him.  He barely eats, he just exists.  I can’t do it anymore,” Al said, and despite the armor, Roy knew he was crying inside.

“Okay, Al, I will.  I’ll take care of him for you,” Roy said without even thinking about the statement.

Al nodded once and stood.  “I’ll bring him and his things to your house tomorrow afternoon.”

Before Mustang could say anything else, Al was gone.  Riza came in and looked at him.  “What was that about, Sir?” she said, watching him disappear out the door.

Roy swallowed.  “I think I just agreed to become Ed’s caretaker…”

Riza arched a brow and looked at him.  “Sir?”

He looked at her and wasn’t sure what to so.  “I…I couldn’t say no, Hawkeye.  I couldn’t let him…be put away in some ward to die.  I couldn’t stop it from happening to start with.  If I’d been better…”

Riza shook her head and put a hand on Roy’s shoulder.  “Colonel, don’t do this again,” she said softly, squeezing his shoulder solemnly.  “You’ve tried, convicted, and executed yourself far too many times already for what happened to Ed.  You did everything you could, we all did.”

“I should have done more,” he said quietly.

The last year and a half had been hard for all of them.  At first, Al would report back everything that happened, everything the doctors said, everything the therapists told him, and then some.  He’d bring Ed to the office and he’d do things with him.  Then, slowly, as the weeks turned to months, Al stopped coming by, then the updates stopped coming, and after the first year passed, it was almost like Al and Ed never existed.  They became this huge thing that no one in the office would talk about but everyone was thinking about. 

They all worried about the Colonel.  Even Riza would go easy on him these days when she’d catch him standing at the window staring in the distance.  They had all seen brutal things in their lives, but none compared to watching the brilliant, strong willed alchemist be reduced to nothing but a shell of his former self.  Ed, whose razor sharp tongue got him in more trouble than his quick temper, Ed, who they all believed would persevere no matter what because he was so determined.  Ed, whose smile could brighten a room when he graced someone with it.

The all missed that, but there was more to it for the colonel.  He had taken care of them from the start, but they all knew that he kept a soft spot for Edward Elric.  He let the boy get away with things that no one else could ever manage.  He looked the other way when others would have stopped him.  No, he wouldn’t admit it, but he cared for that boy than he did for anyone else.  And Riza, for one, was wondering if it was more than just duty driven.  She wondered if something had pierced the thick emotional hide of their colonel.  Could the colonel care that much?

He turned to her.  “Put me in for my vacation time.  Things are quiet.  I should take a week while I can,” he said, his voice too soft and unsure.

“Of course, sir.  You deserve some time off, I’ll handle the paperwork,” she said, smiling.  He looked at her and nodded.  Of course, that was all the confirmation from her he needed.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Roy was nervous, and that surprised him more than anything.  He rarely was nervous, but as he sat in his small apartment waiting for Al to come by with Ed he felt it.  Why should he be nervous?  Just because the last time he saw Ed as Ed and not as the vacant void shell he’d become had been over a year and a half ago, and he’d been sitting beside him as three men…

The doorbell rang and he stood up, swallowing and pushing away the memories. Of all the horrors he’d seen in his life, why did these plague his nightmares?

He opened the door to see Alphonse standing behind the wheelchair that Ed had been in since he’d come back on the train.  He looked the same, of course.  Al cut his hair, and kept it braided just like he always had, and he dressed him in his favorite red coat when they went out.  But his eyes were still wide and distant, and very much not like Ed.

“Al, Ed, come in,” Roy said, trying to ignore the fact that Ed wouldn’t acknowledge him anyway.

Al pushed the chair in and sat down a suitcase.  “Everything is in there, sir.  I’ve put the books and other things in storage, the key’s in the back with the unit number…if…you ever want to go there.  Um, I’m meeting Winry at the station later.  I guess…that’s it.”

“When will you be back?” Roy asked, glancing at Ed’s bowed blonde head and back to Alphonse.

Al hesitated.  “I…I don’t know.  I’ll call.”

With that, he turned and left quickly, closing the door behind him, not even saying a word to Ed.  For some reason this made Roy’s heart ache more than anything.  Ed was gone to him…  Alphonse had grieved and moved on in the last year and a half, and he didn’t believe that anything would ever change.  He didn’t believe his brother would ever come back.  At first, Roy was angry at this realization, then he just grew sad again and turned toward Ed.  He pushed him into the living room and sat down on the couch in front of him.  His eyes didn’t seem to follow anything at all.

He reached into the bag and pulled out the copies of the medical files he’d gotten earlier that day.  Some vacation, he spent the whole day coming up with reasons he needed the medical records and notes for a state alchemist that was currently on medical leave.  He thumbed through it.  “Profound catatonia.  Unresponsive to stimuli.  Suspected trauma induced mutism.  Suspected drug induced hypnotic state.  Suspected neural pathway breakdown.”  Suspected.  But they didn’t know.  None of the doctors were sure exactly what had caused the state Ed as in, and none knew what to do with it.  Wait and see was all they could agree on.  They’d tried medications, injections, foods, everything, and nothing made a difference.

He looked over the report on Ed’s most recent physical and frowned at something.  He quickly pulled out the other visits and found something he wondered why no one else had.

The brand on his back had never healed. 

They commented that the scarring was red rather than normal burn scarring.  They commented that the healing was abnormal.  Looking at the picture, though, Roy knew it wasn’t that at all, the brand had never healed at all.  Roy looked over at Ed and then got up and pushed him into the bedroom.  He lifted him easily up onto the bed and rolled him onto his side and lifted the light t-shirt he was in.  He put his hand against the round brand and it felt warm to the touch.  He frowned and kneeled down to get a better look.  He grabbed the table lamp and pulled it closer where he could see the mark was raised, just slightly, above the rest of his skin, but it didn’t feel like a burn to Roy.  Roy knew burnt flesh, very well, but this wasn’t a burn mark, not by a long shot.  This was alchemical.  Why hadn’t the doctors realized?  What if this was the problem?  What if it wasn’t all in Ed’s head as every single one of the doctors kept saying?  What if Ed was there after all but trapped?

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

There are many definitions of hell.  For Ed, though, he was trapped in what he believed was the worst one in all of existence.  His body was not under his own control.  From the moment they burned the brand into his back, he started to feel different.  By the time he had been a week back in central, he had no control whatsoever.  He could see, hear, and feel, but he couldn’t speak, move or even blink in response.  He was completely trapped in his own body.

He watched as the doctors and nurses gave up on him.  Al tried so hard for so long, and then, to his absolute anguish, Al gave up. It was slow, and he started leaving him alone for longer and longer periods.  Ed wanted to scream and cry and he couldn’t do anything. 

The worst, though, was that Envy started to show up when Al and everyone else began to abandon him.  Envy would giggle and laugh and tell him that Ed was his little puppet now, and that things had worked out nicely, and Ed could do nothing as Envy did whatever he wanted.  He asked Ed if he wanted Greed to come visit, then giggled at that thought.  Every week, Envy would appear at least once, or more if Al left for long periods of time.  Al never noticed when Ed was in a slightly different spot when he came home.  Envy told Ed that he did that on purpose, to prove that Al had given up.  And Al had given up.

“You’re nothing, Ed.  Not anymore.  You’re my puppet, I pull your strings.  You have nothing, you are nothing,” Envy would whisper in his eat as he used him again and again.  The mark on Ed’s back would hurt when Envy was near and somehow, Envy could make Ed’s limbs move.  So he was nothing more than a puppet.  He was nothing but a puppet to a cruel master.

Envy loved to hurt him, leaving him in pain once he was gone.  He’d twist his arm; pull his shoulder, or something that would hurt incessantly for days. Al had no idea anything was wrong, and Envy made sure to stay away the weeks before he was at the doctor’s.  He couldn’t even weep.  He truly was nothing.

Then Al had disappeared and come back and packed up all their things.  Envy had said that Al was getting rid of him.  He said Al was going away, without him.  And Ed didn’t want to believe it.  But that’s what happened.  Roy?  He had been glad, thinking that Roy might keep Envy away.  Roy might keep him safe.  He didn’t expect Roy to immediately put together what was happening.  His heart ached but he wanted to hope that Roy could figure out the truth. 

It wasn’t that he would have been back to his old self, he even knew that.  He didn’t _want_ to talk.  He didn’t _want_ to respond.  The fact that he couldn’t even if he had wanted to, though, was horrifying.  He felt Roy’s fingers on the mark and he wanted him to just put things together.  He wanted to cry.  He wanted to scream, though it would have been silent. 

Then Roy left him, and he wondered if Roy had given up on it.  He didn’t want him to give up.  Al had given up on him; he didn’t want Roy to give up on him.  Time seemed to pass, and slept again, as usual, simply when he needed to do so, it happened upon him.

“Chibi…wake up Chibi…” came an unwelcome voice.

Ed’s eyes opened and he was sitting up on Envy’s lap, stripped of his clothes already, and Envy was licking his neck.  “Chibi, I almost lost you, imagine my surprise when you were given to Roy Mustang!  But as much as he works, we’ll have more time together, I do like playing with the toy I made,” he said, shifting Ed’s body and slamming up into him.  Ed’s head lolled back on Envy’s shoulder, and he wanted to scream but it wouldn’t matter anyway.  Roy was at work, he wouldn’t be back. 

So it was with great surprise that a shot cracked through the air right over Ed’s nose and slammed into Envy’s head.  Of course, it was a momentary distraction for the homunculus, recovering and jumping up and away from Ed as a gout of flame shot through the air as Ed’s body fell back into the bed, his eyes stuck on the ceiling.  He heard Envy cackling and then crashing through the window, pieces of glass spraying back into the room.

“Son of a bitch!  Hawkeye, go down the front!  Catch that bastard!” he heard Roy yell, then felt Roy’s hands turning his face toward him and he was looking up at him.

“Ed, I’m sorry, again, I’ve let you down again,” he said, leaning forward and to Ed’s surprise, planting a gentle kiss on his forehead.  “I won’t let it happen again,” he said, and he grabbed the sheet and bundled him up in them, picking him up easily and heading out into the front where Havoc and Breda had come in.

“What happened?” Havoc asked.

“The homunculus.  I was right.  The brand is alchemical, and it did something to him, it let that homunculus track him here, we don’t know what it can do,” Roy said, shifting Ed, up so the sheet fell down his back where the brand was nearly hot to the touch.

Havoc touched it and pulled back his hand.  “That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen…you’re right boss, it doesn’t look like any burn I’ve ever seen.”

“What does the homunculus want with him?” Breda asked.  “I mean, what purpose does…” he started, the he blinked and turned away.  “I see.”

Havoc started to say something then stopped.  “We have to do something.  If that thing keeps…keeps finding him…how do we stop it?” he said instead.

Roy shook his head.  “I was gone two hours to research what the mark could be, at the most.  This building is restricted access.  He had to come in pretending to be someone else.  He said he’d made him his toy.  We should have taken his words more seriously, dammit,” Roy said, clutching Ed’s body against him. 

The next few hours were a whirlwind of work for Roy’s crew.  It took longer than he would have liked to find a couple experts to try and figure out if there was a way to remove the brand on Ed’s back.  They didn’t even know if removing it would help.  They really had no idea.  Roy’s apartment was soon evacuated in favor of a state safe house with more alchemical protections than Roy could count.  He still held Ed wrapped in the sheet from his bed, though, and had refused to let go of him for any reason until they’d arranged a room for them.  Finally, he put Ed down on a larger bed and a couple alchemical theory experts discussed the mark on his back after diagnosing it as best they could.

“Fire,” the first one said, looking at Roy seriously.

“What?” Roy said, frowning.

“The mark wasn’t applied with heat, but with alchemy.  The only way to remove it is with alchemical flames,” he said, nodding at the large round mark on his back.

“You’re kidding, that could kill him, and I’m…” Roy let the sentence die on his lips.  He was the only alchemist capable of producing that kind of flame anywhere close to Central.

The two theorists nodded sadly.  “I’m afraid that is the only way to destroy this type of alchemical mark.  It is as though it was applied with that specific purpose, as though your alchemy was to be the key to removing it only.”

The two theorists excused themselves and Roy sat down on the bed beside Ed’s still body.  He placed a hand on Ed’s back and sighed.  “I’ll do it, Ed, and I’m so sorry because it will hurt a lot before I’m done,” he said quietly. 

He got up and went to the door and told Havoc what the plan was and to have medical sent in to help him with the procedure.  It didn’t take long before it was finished and Ed had been strapped down on a table.  They’d tried to put him out, but whatever the mark was, it interfered with sedatives.  So they’d given him pain medicines, but it might not help, as the mark went through all layers of Ed’s skin. 

“Let’s get this over with,” Roy said, shaping the flames to his will.

It took nearly an hour for Roy to complete burning out the mark.  He tried to be precise and keep the flame to where the mark was, but it was nearly impossible to be that accurate completely.  Finally, it was done, and he stepped back while the doctors cleaned and bandaged the new wound.  They moved him to the bed, leaving him on his stomach to keep the wound clear. 

Roy stayed with him, though, refusing to leave even for a moment, even when the doctors came in to re-examine him.  What they found was troubling, of course, because they realized that Envy had been no doubt coming to Ed quite often while he was unable to resist.  It wasn’t something they had ever checked for, because there was no reason to think he was still in danger.  Roy knew this was his fault too, because he should have seen this for what it was.

So, he had to make up for this now.  He lay beside him and turned his face toward him.  “Ed, I’m so sorry, I’ve failed you,” he said quietly. 

It was dark, the room had no windows, and the only light came from a small lamp by the bed.  Roy’s eyes had almost closed when he felt Ed’s flesh hand touch his face.  Roy’s eyes shot open and he found that he’d moved enough to put his hand against Roy’s cheek and his eyes, still cloudy and wide, were somewhat focused on Roy’s face.  Roy reached up and put his hand on Ed’s.

“Ed?  Oh, Ed, you’re still in there, you are,” he said quietly, squeezing Ed’s hand.

Ed didn’t speak, he didn’t want to, but he wanted Roy to know that he was there.  He closed his eyes and fell asleep holding onto Roy’s cheek.  Roy refused to let go of his hand.


End file.
